“MaMa Rosa’s is a great business that has experienced impressive growth over 30 years and has very strong distribution channels across the US and beyond,” said Ryan Stratton, principal at Huntsman Gay. “We believe MaMa Rosa’s presents a tremendous opportunity to develop a sizable platform, and we fully intend to grow the company through add-on acquisitions of other food businesses over time. For Huntsman Gay, this deal also adds further dimension to an already diverse portfolio as we continue to look across a wide variety of industries and sectors for the best investment opportunities.”
MaMa Rosa’s is a leader in refrigerated pizza and sells more than 3 million cases of large pizzas for family meals and mini snack pizzas annually, distributing product to more than 10,000 supermarkets, warehouse club stores, pharmacies and convenience stores across the United States and Mexico. In addition to the MaMa Rosa’s brand, the company also makes refrigerated pizza products under the Mama Angelina’s, Our Old Italian and Lean Lifestyle brand names. The company was previously owned by Plaza Belmont Fund II LLC.
“We are extremely proud of the progress MaMa Rosa’s has made since 2006 under Plaza Belmont’s ownership and the leadership of Bill Mackin, who served as MaMa Rosa’s president,” said Bob Parnow, president of Plaza Belmont Management Group II LLC. “We wanted to ensure that the new owners would have the necessary operational experience as well as the financial resources to provide growth opportunities for the company and its employees. Huntsman Gay demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of MaMa Rosa’s opportunity and a commitment to long-term success. Not only does this transaction provide excellent returns for our investors, but just as when Mike Gilardi sold the business to ConAgra in the late 1990s, every employee of the company will share in a portion of the profits from the sale.”
