ELIGIN, Ill. —Middleby Corp. is set to acquire the Cooking Solutions Group from Standex International Corp. The deal expands the commercial equipment company’s product offering and market reach.
Standex’s Cooking Solutions Group generated about $100 million in 2018, making up about 10% of the Allen, Texas-based manufacturer’s net revenues. With the transaction, Middleby will own the group’s APW Wyott, Bakers Pride, BKI and Ultrafryer brands.
“The Standex cooking brands are well-recognized and respected in the foodservice industry,” said Tim FitzGerald, newly appointed CEO of the Middleby Corp.; former CEO Selim Bassoul retired in February. “This acquisition adds to the product portfolio and expands the customers and markets which Middleby serves.”
Particularly, the BKI brand will help grow Middleby’s presence in the retail segment, where the company has had limited representation in the past, FitzGerald said. The other brands also fit into the company’s strategic vision.
“Ultrafryer’s unique high-efficiency and high-capacity frying technology broadens our product offerings and expands our customer opportunity,” he said. “The APW and Bakers Pride brands also further extend and complement our existing portfolio of cooking products and bring a new manufacturing footprint for Middleby in Mexico to better serve Latin America.”
This is the company’s second acquisition of the year. In January, Middleby acquired EVO America, a Tualatin, Ore.-based ventless cooking-equipment manufacturer. In 2018, the company acquired a few businesses, including commercial soft-serve and beverage equipment manufacturer Taylor Co., Rockton, Ill., and JoeTap, an Annapolis, Md.-based nitro-brew equipment supplier.
The Middleby Corp. is a global leader in the foodservice-equipment industry. The company develops, manufactures, markets and services a broad line of equipment used in the commercial foodservice, food processing and residential kitchen equipment industries. The company's leading equipment brands serving the commercial foodservice industry include Blodgett, CookTek, Holman, Nu-Vu and TurboChef.
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