Blackstone portfolio company buys Birds Eye for $1.3bn

Birds Eye was majority owned by private equity firm Vestar Capital Partners, with 40 per cent of the company belonging to New York agricultural cooperative Pro-Fac.

Birds Eye was founded in the early 1960s as Curtice Burns Inc, in partnership with Pro-Fac, and is now said to hold 25 per cent of the frozen vegetable market in the US; its products are sold in major US grocery stores including Wal-Mart, Kroger and Safeway.

Vestar acquired Birds Eye, which carries around $700m in long-term debt, in 2002 and is now set to exit its investment.

Blackstone acquired Pinnacle Brands, which owns well-known brands including Mrs Butterworth pancake syrup, in 2007 for just under $2.2bn.

Last month, Birds Eye filed an IPO proposal with the SEC for the sale of its common stock. It reportedly hopes to raise at least $350m.  

Although the financing structure of the deal has not been disclosed, this leveraged transaction indicates that the credit market may be thawing.  

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