Rise Baking sells to private equity firms

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Rise Baking sells to private equity firms

18 Sep 2024

Annie Hollon

Annie Hollon is a journalist, copywriter and social media strategist from the Dallas, Texas area. She found a love for magazine writing during her time at the University of Alabama where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, double majoring in public relations and English. Beyond writing, you can find her expanding her library, attempting to teach herself the guitar and trying new hobbies.

MINNEAPOLIS — Olympus Partners has sold Rise Baking Co., a baked goods manufacturer for in-store bakeries, distributors and foodservice, to global private equity firms Platinum Equity and Butterfly. Both firms will be equal partners in the investment.

“We have built this company into one of the leading bakery platforms in North America thanks to the contributions of our incredible team and support from Olympus,” said Brian Zellmer, CEO of Rise Baking. “We welcome the opportunity to partner with Platinum Equity and Butterfly as we continue to grow Rise Baking Company to serve our customers as their total bakery partner.”

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The sale of Rise Baking has allowed Olympus to return over $6 billion to its investors in the past three years.

“Rise Baking Company is a tremendous business with the strongest team in the industry,” said Mike Horgan, partner at Olympus. “Working with Brian Zellmer and the entire management team to help grow Rise into the premium in-store bakery platform in North America has been an amazing experience. We are immensely proud of the incredible growth that Rise has been able to generate, but more importantly, we are proud of our true partnership with the Rise team. Rise Baking Company is extremely well-positioned for the future, and we look forward to watching Rise achieve even greater success.”

“We welcome the opportunity to partner with Platinum Equity and Butterfly as we continue to grow Rise Baking Company to serve our customers as their total bakery partner.” — Brian Zellmer | CEO | Rise Baking

Founded in 2013, the baking company provides an array of products, including cookies, pies, cakes, icings, muffins and crispy bars. Rise Baking will continue to operate under Zellmer and the current management team.

“We are honored to partner with the Rise team to support their expansion both organically and through strategic acquisitions,” said Adam Waglay, co-founder and co-CEO of Butterfly. “As a food-focused and operations-driven investment firm, we are excited to bring our specialized expertise and deep food network to bear to help amplify and accelerate the company’s mission to rise above its customers’ expectations one bite at a time.”

Earlier this year, Rise Baking acquired Worcester, MA-based Table Talk Pies. The baking company also acquired two pie facilities at the close of 2023, bolstering its portfolio with brands such as Brill, South Coast and Best Maid. Overall, the company is comprised of nearly 4,000 employees and 20 manufacturing facilities.

The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2024.

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