November 16, 2016

Portland, Oregon-based private equity firm, Endeavour Capital has agreed to acquire OFD Foods, the largest diversified freeze-dried food and products company in North America for an undisclosed amount.

Founded in 1991, Endeavour Capital is the largest private equity firm in the state of Oregon and has recently closed its seventh fund – Endeavour Capital Fund VII, at $775 million in June 2015, bringing the firm’s capital under management to about $2 billion. Focusing on investments located in the western region of the U.S., the firm usually invests between $25 million and $100 million per deal with an exit between five and 10 years.

OFD will use the capital from this deal to fund the retirement buyouts of several senior managers and also will be used to fund initiatives geared to raising capacity at not only the company’s plant located in Albany, Oregon, but additional sites across North America as well.

With more than 32,000 square feet of freeze drying surface at its Albany plant, OFD – whose brands include EasyMeal, a food line designed to fit the needs of large-scale institutions, and Mountain House, a line of freeze dried foods developed for outdoor preparation and emergency use – has reached capacity for its contract freeze drying services a company spokesperson told Portland Business Journal.

“Our team recognizes OFD as the industry leader in freeze drying capabilities,” said Stephen Babson, Endeavour managing director in a recent statement. “We have known the company for more than 15 years, so we’re confident that investments in product development and production capacity are going to help OFD reach the next stage of its growth.”

At the same time, OFD also announced the promotion of company president, Jim Merryman to the role of chief executive officer. Since joining the company in 1974, Mr. Merryman has filled management roles overseeing distribution, production, maintenance, purchasing, sales and marketing.

“We are now able to move OFD forward more aggressively to serve the expanding needs of our customer base,” said Merryman. “Our broader capital base will support the continued expansion of our brands within the outdoor adventure meal and emergency meal markets, in addition to expanding capacity for OFD’s contract services.”

Merryman went on to tell the Democrat-Herald that OFD has plans in the pipe to build an additional plant in the United States in order to meet his ambitious growth targets for the business.

“We’ve been focusing on our sales and marketing efforts the last few years, and those are paying off now,” Merryman told the Democrat-Herald. “This will allow me to have the funds I need to continue the growth that we have started. My target is to double the size of the company in the next five years.”

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Lynda Kiernan