Littlejohn & Co, a private investment firm based in Greenwich, Connecticut, has entered into an agreement to sell CTI Foods, a provider of custom food solutions to leading chain restaurants in North America.
Under the agreement, Littlejohn & Co will sell CTI Foods to Thomas H Lee Partners and an affiliate of Goldman Sachs. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2013.
Littlejohn acquired CTI Foods in 2010, following which, it appointed Robert Horowitz as the new CEO of the business.
Littlejohn expanded CTI Foods by building a new soup plant and R&D facility. It also completed two acquisitions and developed several major new accounts that diversified its customer base.
Robert Horowitz said that Littlejohn was instrumental in helping the company capitalize on a number of opportunities to organically grow the business, as well as complete strategic acquisitions to build for the future.
"We look forward to working with our new partners to build on these and other initiatives to continue the company's growth," Horowitz added.
Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to CTI Foods in connection with the transaction.
