AUSTIN, TX — Peak Rock Capital, a leading middle-market private investment firm, closed its sale of TNT Crust to food giant General Mills. The deal was first announced last month.
Headquartered in St. Charles, MO, TNT is a leading provider of partially baked, self-rising traditional and better-for-you pizza crusts. The company serves a diverse, blue-chip customer base including foodservice distributors, national pizza chains and retail brands.
Since acquiring TNT in a corporate carve-out from Tyson Foods in late 2018, Peak Rock has supported the company’s strategic growth and operational initiatives, including substantially increasing capacity at its Green Bay, WI facilities, opening a new state-of-the-art production facility in St. Charles and launching the better-for-you product line to meet growing demand within its end markets.
“We are very proud of the success that TNT has achieved under our ownership,” said Robert Pistilli, managing director of Peak Rock. “The company has undergone transformational growth including the opening of a new manufacturing facility, which is expected to create more than 100 new jobs, and the development of an industry-leading, better-for-you plant. We look forward to seeing TNT’s continued success under General Mills.”
Kyle Heberle, CEO of TNT, credits Peak Rock’s critical role in supporting his team’s ambitious growth plans by investing in their people, innovation capabilities and production capacity. Peak Rock also leveraged strong growth in the pizza sector with offerings that cater to health-conscious consumers, including crusts based on vegetables or other alternative ingredient bases such as chickpeas and cauliflower. This foundation positioned General Mills to hit the ground running with its acquisition of the company.
“I would also like to recognize the tireless work and dedication of our talented staff in supporting our valued customer base with excellent products and service,” Heberle said. “We are excited to join the General Mills team and look forward to further accelerating our growth in the years to come.”
Evercore served as financial advisor, Goldman Sachs was co-advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as the legal advisor to the company on the transaction.
