Through the acquisition, St. Paul’s-based Dessert Holdings gains Dianne’s product line, which includes frozen cheesecakes, layer cakes, pies, tarts, brownies, bars and other specialty desserts, along with its two Global Food Safety Initiative-certified manufacturing facilities.
“Dianne’s possesses a distinctive set of product capabilities and customer relationships that are highly complementary with Dessert Holdings,” said Paul Lapadat, Dessert Holdings CEO.
“Dianne’s has an exceptional, innovative team that we are thrilled to welcome to the Dessert Holdings family.”
Dianne’s current CEO Mike Knowles, along with its president Dan Scales, will both retire in conjunction with the acquisition.
According to Adam Schecter and Jeff Gonyo, joint MDs of Geneva Glen Capital, the pair commendably overcame the challenges of the pandemic and continued to deliver first-in-class menu products to its customers.
“We are truly thankful to Mike and Dan and the entire Dianne’s management team for the incredible effort and dedication that resulted in a strong outcome for all of us,” said Schecter and Gonyo.
Added Knowles, “We are proud to have grown Dianne’s into a differentiated national supplier and value-added partner to the foodservice channel.”
Scales added he believed Dessert Holdings’ scale platform and capabilities will enable Dianne’s to continue to grow.
Fast-tracking growth
The deal is the next step in Dessert Holdings’ aggressive expansion strategy – and its second in 2022 – following its acquisition by Bain Capital Private Equity in 2021.
