Paine & Partners, a private equity investment firm focused on investing in food and agribusiness, has made an investment in SGF Produce Holdings, the parent entity of Sunrise Growers~Frozsun Foods, which was an affiliated portfolio company of Sun Capital Partners.
Following the closing, Sunrise will no longer be an affiliated portfolio company of Sun Capital.
Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Sunrise is a frozen fruit processor and marketer. The company, headquartered in Placentia, California, was founded in 1977 and operates processing facilities in Oxnard and Santa Maria, California, which are strategically located in the leading strawberry producing regions of the US.
Sunrise’s products include frozen strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, peaches and fruit blends in multiple product specifications and packaging configurations.
Edward Haft will continue to lead Sunrise as president and chief executive officer, along with the rest of Sunrise’s senior management team.
Kevin Schwartz, a founding partner at Paine & Partners, says: "We are excited about our investment in Sunrise, a leader in the retail and foodservice frozen fruit markets that is well positioned to capitalise on the growing demand for healthy food options and quality frozen fruit products. We have been impressed by the company’s capabilities and the strong strategic relationships it has with its grower and customer partners. Together with the Sunrise management team, we have identified opportunities to enhance the company’s product offerings, including expansion into new fruit categories and markets. We look forward to continuing to work with Ed Haft and the rest of the Sunrise management team to execute on these exciting growth opportunities."
Haft says: "With Paine & Partners, we will continue to build on our diverse portfolio of quality products, state-of-the-art processing facilities and industry leading food safety practices. Our strong relationships with our leading retail and foodservice customers and grower partners are due to our product capabilities and quality, supply certainty and flexibility, and we will look to continue to expand those capabilities in the future. We look forward to working with the Paine & Partners team, whose experience investing across the food and agribusiness value chain and resources will help us achieve our long-term potential as we continue to develop and expand our business."
