December 15, 2015

Private equity firm, Arbor Investments, announced that it has completed its acquisition of California-based DPI Specialty Foods Inc. from Dublin, Ireland-based Ornua Co-Operative Ltd.

DPI markets gourmet, ethnic, organic and healthier-for-you foods to national, regional, and independent retailers, foodservice operations, and quick service restaurants across the U.S. through its eight distribution centers. And with annual revenue exceeding $1 billion, the company is one of the largest specialty food distributors in the country.

Founded in 1999 in Chicago, Illinois, Arbor Investments is a private equity firm that focuses solely on acquiring top companies within the food and beverage space. To date, the firm has invested in over 44 food, beverage, and related companies in the U.S.

"With a diverse network of national and international vendors, DPI has the pulse of specialty food trends, particularly in the dynamic gourmet, perishable, specialty, natural, organic, local and ethnic foods categories that retail customers and discriminating consumers demand," said Alan Weed of Arbor Investments in a company press release.

"The specialty food distribution sector presents a great investment opportunity," said Arbor CEO, Gregory Purcell. “Going forward, we expect to deploy Arbor's resources, capital and over 20 years of acquisition expertise to acquire family-owned specialty distributors to augment DPI's strong foundation and further enhance its already formidable standing in the specialty food distribution industry."

Commenting on the deal with Arbor Investments, John Jordan, Ornua Foods CEO Europe and Latin America added, "As we evaluated potential acquirers, Arbor and its exclusive focus and stellar reputation in the food and beverage industry stood out. We believe that Arbor is the optimal equity partner to drive continued growth at DPI."

Ornua will retain a minority stake in DPI, and the company’s existing senior management team will continue in their roles leading the business.