Conagra Brands is set to divest its legacy Chef Boyardee shelf-stable pasta business to Hometown Food Company for $600m in cash.
The US-based frozen foods and snacks maker said in a statement the deal includes all related assets of the brand, including a production facility in Milton, Pennsylvania.
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Hometown Food Company, a portfolio business of private-equity firm Brynwood Partners, said the transaction, including the 820,000 square-foot plant, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approval.
However, Conagra said the frozen skillet meals under the Chef Boyardee brand are not part of the sale and will instead be licensed to Conagra by Hometown Food Company.
Chef Boyardee offers products in canned and microwave formats including items such as beef ravioli, spaghetti and meatballs, mini ravioli, and ‘beefaroni’.
The products are distributed primarily through grocery stores, mass retailers, and dollar store chains in the US, with an additional market presence in Canada and Puerto Rico, Hometown Food Company said.
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By GlobalDataChef Boyardee’s shelf-stable products generated approximately $450m in net sales for Conagra in fiscal year 2024, the US frozen-meals business said.
Hometown Food Company said the Milton facility, which employs approximately 500 people who are included in the deal, will operate alongside its three existing manufacturing sites.
Conagra president and CEO Sean Connolly said: “The Chef Boyardee divestiture marks another milestone in reshaping the Conagra Brands’ portfolio for better long-term growth, while also paying down debt.
“Despite the uncertain external environment, Conagra remains proactive in its pursuit of shareholder-value creation. By deepening our focus on our leading, growth-oriented frozen and healthy-snacking businesses, we continue to build a more focused company with modern consumer brands.”
Brynwood Partners CEO and chairman Henk Hartong described the Chef Boyardee acquisition as the “single largest” in the firm’s 40-year history.
He said that the shelf-stable meal brand will join the Hometown portfolio, which has grown “by nearly twofold” since its inception, adding that the company will “reinvigorate the Chef Boyardee brand and extend into new formats”.
Hometown Food Company was formed by Brynwood Partners in 2018 to acquire a selection of bakery and desserts assets from the US food group JM Smucker.
It went on to purchase the Arrowhead Mills baking assets from Hain Celestial in 2019, the pancake and waffles business De Wafelbakkers in 2022, and Birch Benders from Sovos Brands in 2023. Sovos Brands is now owned by The Campbell’s Company.
With the addition of Chef Boyardee, Hometown Food Company will have annual gross revenues of more than $1.6bn and around 1,500 employees, the company said in its own statement.
Headquartered in Chicago, Conagra’s other brands brands include Duncan Hines, Healthy Choice, Marie Callender’s, Slim Jim, and Angie’s Boomchickapop.
The US group posted a 1.8% decline in reported net sales and a 2.1% decrease in organic terms to $12.1bn in fiscal 2024. Net income fell by 49.1% to $347.7m.
In February, the company lowered its forecast for annual sales in 2025 due to supply chain disruptions affecting two product categories.
At the time, it projected a decline of around 2% in organic net sales, compared to its earlier guidance, which ranged from a 1.5% drop at worst to flat at best.
For the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, which ended on 23 February, Conagra reported a 6.3% decline in net sales and a 5.2% drop organically to $2.8bn.
Announcing those results in April, Conagra suggested further pricing could be in store as a counter to any inflationary undertones from Trump’s tariffs on international imports.
