Old London Foods, Inc.

A company affiliated with and capitalized by the Partnership acquired the assets of Old London Foods, Inc. from CPC International (CPC) in July 1997.

The Partnership sold its stake in Old London Foods to Nonni’s Food Company, Inc. (Nonni’s) on January 25, 2005.

Old London Foods, Inc. (OLF) is a manufacturer of specialty crackers and other baked products, including melba toast, traditional and round croutons, breadcrumbs and flatbreads. The company is the world’s largest manufacturer of melba toast. The company’s headquarters and manufacturing facilities are located in the Bronx, New York.

Created in Paris in 1896, melba toast was first commercialized in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s under the Devonsheer and Old London brand names.  Devonsheer remained an independent baking enterprise until its acquisition by Arnold Foods Company, Inc. (a management buyout by Clayton & Dubilier) in 1985.  OLF was acquired in 1986 by CPC from Borden in a transaction initiated by Clayton & Dubilier.  Although the combined sales of these products declined under CPC’s leadership, the Old London and Devonsheer brands maintained excellent recognition and significant retail distribution.

The company’s long-term strategy was to build equity value through the expansion of the Old London and Devonsheer brands – the increase in manufacturing efficiency resulting from further capacity utilization of the company’s facilities and the pursuit of strategic acquisitions that complemented its core product lines.

On February 8, 2000, OLF, with an additional equity contribution by the Partnership and management, acquired Quality Baking Products (Quality) in a transaction structured as an asset sale. Quality, headquartered in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl, was founded in 1947 and is the largest producer of breadcrumbs in the U.S. Concurrent with the closing of the transaction, Quality’s facility in Detroit, MI was closed and its production integrated into OLF’s existing manufacturing facility in the Bronx.  Quality continues to operate facilities in Knoxville, TN and Willingboro, NJ.  The combined company had dominant market share in both the melba toast and breadcrumb markets.

---