Dive Brief:
- Metropoulos & Co. announced that it had made a sizable investment in Utz Quality Foods, though neither company disclosed any financial details, Food Business News reported.
- Utz is a leading salty snack company in the U.S., and this deal is "the largest initial private equity transaction for a U.S. snack company since 2013," according to Food Business News.
- That 2013 deal also involved Metropoulos, when it and Apollo Global Management invested in Hostess Brands, pulling Hostess out of bankruptcy.
Dive Insight:
After Metropoulos helped Hostess expand back into bread and neighboring categories, the family-owned investment firm and Apollo sold their majority stake in the company to Gores Holdings Inc. in July. The two companies purchased Hostess's assets while the company was in liquidation. At the time of the final sale, Hostess's estimated value was $2.3 billion.
The company may now take a similar strategy with Utz, though the snack maker is in a very different financial situation.
Utz has been on a path toward growth. It recently acquired Golden Flake, which was completed earlier this month. With an infusion of cash from Metropoulos, Utz can maintain that level of acquisitive growth and become more of a competitor to major snack producers like PepsiCo, Kellogg, Mondelez and General Mills.
Metropoulous exemplifies the significant role investment companies are playing in the food and beverage industry today. While many investment firms are interested in startups, these firms can also turn a significant profit by building up established companies and helping them reach their potential. These firms could have major manufacturers on edge because of their potential influence on the innovation, scale and market share that can be achieved from these investments.