Charlesbank sells Peacock Foods to Irish manufacturer

Affiliates of middle-market private equity firm Charlesbank Capital Partners have sold their interests in Peacock Foods to Greencore Group for an undisclosed sum.

Charlesbank had acquired Geneva, Illinois-based Peacock, which operates seven manufacturing facilities totaling more than two million sq ft in California, Illinois and Ohio, in 2010.

Peacock is a food manufacturer and provider of automation, project engineering, packaging and processing to US consumer food companies, with market positions in categories including frozen breakfast sandwiches, kids’ snacks and salad kits, and customers including Tyson Foods, KraftHeinz and Dole.

Tom Sampson, CEO of Peacock, said in a statement issued today that under Charlesbank his firm “strengthened customer relationships, won important new business, significantly improved our operations and expanded our capabilities.”

Sampson, who Charlesbank recruited from Kraft Foods for his current position in 2013, added that the Greencore partnership will allow for additional growth based on “complementary competencies and enhanced operating capacity.” Ireland’s Greencore, listed on the London Stock Exchange, is an international producer of convenience foods.

Under Charlesbank, Peacock in 2015 acquired L&L Foods, which according to the statement provided a bridge into prepared salad kits and away-from-home products, while the partnership also added a new West Coast facility. Based in Boston and New York, Charlesbank manages more than $3.5 billion of capital, generally investing in companies with enterprise values of $150 million to $1 billion.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. A Charlesbank spokesperson declined to comment further, while Greencore did not immediately respond to requests.