Puratos reaches agreement to acquire Dawn Foods

BRUSSELS — Puratos and Dawn Food Products on March 10 announced the companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which Puratos will acquire Dawn. In what the company’s top executive called “a major long-term step,” the acquisition would expand Puratos’ footprint and capabilities as a leading supplier broadly across the global baked foods industry.

Financial terms of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, were not disclosed.

Family-owned companies with histories dating back more than a century, Puratos and Dawn are global businesses supplying a wide range of products to the baking industry.

“Puratos and Dawn Foods have developed distinct and complementary capabilities, both serving professional bakers, pastry chefs, retailers and food manufacturers by translating consumer trends and insights into ingredient solutions,” the companies said in announcing the impending transaction.

Established as a donut mix business in 1920 in Jackson, Mich., Dawn Foods has operations in North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific and has a large presence in the American sweet baked foods and ingredient solutions market. Owned by the Jones family since 1955, when Marlin and Evelyne Jones acquired the business, Dawn grew dramatically under the family’s ownership and leadership, expanding over time to supply retail bakers, foodservice operators and supermarkets with a wide range of products in addition to mixes — such as donuts, cakes, bases, icings, glazes, fillings, frozen dough, baking ingredients, seasonal items and bakery equipment. Across 100 countries globally, Dawn has 4,000 employees and annual sales of more than $2.1 billion.

“Puratos complements this with expertise across bakery, patisserie and chocolate, including fermentation, sourdough, grains and seeds, patisserie classics and chocolate craftsmanship,” the companies said. “Its innovation approach is strongly rooted in ingredient technology and long-term R&D, translating food science into differentiated ingredient solutions. Puratos operates technology-driven manufacturing sites designed to integrate advanced functionality and more tailored production.”

Established in Belgium in 1919, Brussels-based Puratos has operated in the United States since 1984, headquartered in Pennsauken, NJ. The company has a workforce of nearly 11,000 around the world, with subsidiaries in 87 countries and production facilities in 52. The company has annual sales of €3.4 billion ($3.95 billion). In the United States, the company’s product line includes glazes, margarines and specialty fats, bakery mixes, fillings, sourdough, grains and seeds, egg-wash alternatives and dough conditioners. The company recently introduced a chocolate product made with cultured cocoa.

“This combination would bring together complementary innovation engines — Dawn Foods’ application-led creativity and Puratos’ R&D-led ingredient technology — alongside complementary production models, Dawn Foods’ large-scale, standardized manufacturing and Puratos’ more flexible and tailored production,” Puratos and Dawn said. “It would also connect Dawn Food’s extensive North American distribution footprint with Puratos’ broad international subsidiary network.”

Puratos said the combination will allow the company to better serve customers, both for the production of mainstream products and “more technology-driven solutions,” across a wider array of baked foods products than either Puratos or Dawn services currently.

“This agreement reflects a major long-term step for Puratos,” said Pierre Tossut, chief executive officer of Puratos. “Dawn Foods is a highly respected company with capabilities that complement our own. The agreement shows our ambition to further expand our footprint and capabilities within a space we know well, understand deeply and have successfully developed over generations.”

Puratos has been expanding steadily in recent years around the globe organically, with new product introduction and the opening of innovation centers, and the company has made numerous, more modest acquisitions in recent years.

In January, Puratos acquired Vör Foods, which produces nut butters and nut-based fillings. In 2023, the company acquired Canadian chocolate producer Foley’s Chocolates in what it called its largest acquisition in the chocolate industry. 

In January, Puratos Group promoted Puratos USA president Andrew Brimacombe to president of North American markets, succeeding Paul Bakus, who retired.

Carrie Jones-Barber, chief executive officer of Dawn Foods, said Dawn has grown into a global business by focusing on its employees, its products and its customers.

“As we looked to the future, it was important to find a partner aligned with our values and our long-term view of the business,” she said. “Like Dawn, Puratos is a family-owned company with a strong heritage and a deep commitment to people, quality and the baking industry.”

Jones-Barber has been chief executive of the company since 2006, the third generation of the Jones family to run the business. Her father Ron Jones led the company from 1972 to 2006. Ron’s brother Miles currently serves as chairman of the board. Miles’ son Sam is senior director of sales operations for North America.

Puratos and Dawn said the transaction is expected to close by the end of the year, subject to regulatory approvals. Until that time, the companies will remain fully independent, operating separately with no changes in day-to-day operations, customer relationships or commercial arrangements.

J.P. Morgan is acting as exclusive financial advisor, and Allen Overy Shearman Sterling LLP is acting as legal counsel to Puratos. BMO Capital Markets is acting as exclusive financial advisor, and Winston & Strawn LLP is acting as legal counsel to Dawn Foods.