Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL) has announced the sale of Indo~European Foods (IEF), a value-added distributor of ethnic, specialty food products, and a portfolio company of Corridor Capital, to Ziyad Brothers (Ziyad), a provider of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean products and a portfolio company of Peak Rock Capital. BGL’s food and investment banking team served as the exclusive financial advisor to IEF. This deal marks its fourth transaction this year within the broader specialty foods sector.
Founded in 1966, IEF is an importer and value-added distributor of specialty ethnic foods offering third-party, proprietary branded, and private label products to over 1,000 independent ethnic grocers predominantly located in the Western United States and national chains covering 45 states. It sources, develops, markets, and distributes Eastern European, Mediterranean, and North African food products including frozen vegetables, appetizers, spreads, preserves, condiments, cheeses, confections, seasonings, and specialty grains and rice.
Ziyad is a manufacturer and distributor of branded and private label Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food and beverage products, including frozen fillo dough, kataifi, falafel and kibbeh. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with additional facilities in New Jersey and California, the company’s diverse product portfolio numbers over 800 SKUs. Founded as a small bakery in 1966 in Chicago, Ziyad now owns numerous brands and partners with dozens of companies on an exclusive basis to deliver their products within the North American market.
This transaction, terms of which were not disclosed, brings together two companies that have highly complementary brand portfolios and geographic footprints. The partnership is also designed to help IEF rapidly expand its presence throughout key growth markets in the South and Midwest USA.
