Butterfly completes Bolthouse Farms acquisition for $510m

Butterfly, a US-based private equity firm that specialises in the food sector, has closed the acquisition of Bolthouse Farms from Campbell Soup Company for $510m in cash.

The equity firm signed a definitive agreement to acquire Bolthouse in April.

Butterfly co-founder Adam Waglay said: “Today we are excited to formally join Bolthouse Farms on its mission of providing fresh, healthy plant-based products to consumers around the country.”

Founded in 1915 and based in Bakersfield and Santa Monica of California, Bolthouse Farms is a vertically integrated food and beverage company, which is focused on developing, manufacturing and marketing healthy products.

The company is a leading player in fresh carrots and refrigerated premium beverages segments in the US, and also has a growing presence in refrigerated salad dressings.

It operates facilities in Bakersfield, California, as well as Hodgkins in Illinois, Wheatley in Ontario, and Prosser in Washington, with approximately 2,200 employees.

Bolthouse Farms is Butterfly’s most recent investment under its “seed to fork” approach, which focuses on investing in food across agriculture, aquaculture, food and beverage products, food distribution and foodservice.

With the completion of the deal, Butterfly operating partner Jeff Dunn will assume the role of CEO of Bolthouse Farms, where he previously served as president and CEO from 2008 until 2012.

Dunn said: “Now begins the work of reinforcing Bolthouse Farms’ position as a leader and innovator in produce and plant-based products. Today we begin the next chapter in Bolthouse Farms’ long and successful history.”

In August 2012, Campbell Soup acquired Bolthouse Farms from private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners for $1.55bn.

The soup firm funded the deal through a combination of short and long-term borrowings.