Food technology leader Aseptia, Raleigh, N.C., completed the sale of its manufacturing operations Wright Foods and Carolina Dairy to a newly formed subsidiary of AmeriQual Group Holdings, Evansville, Ind.

The sale, which was finalized in late February, transfers the assets of Wright Foods, a state-of-the-art aseptic food processing company based in Troy, N.C., and Carolina Dairy, an aseptic yogurt packager headquartered in Biscoe, N.C., to AmeriQual’s subsidiary. As part of the transaction, the companies also formed a long-term licensing relationship for the use of Aseptia’s patented AseptiWave and AseptiSense technologies, which allow for the processing and validation of a wide range of aseptic foods with better sensory, nutrition retention and ingredient profiles while reducing or eliminating the need for cold storage.

“We are launching an exciting relationship with AmeriQual that offers tremendous potential for both companies,” says David Clark, president and CEO for Aseptia. “They are market leaders in food processing and packaging, and the facilities and capabilities that we had at Wright Foods and Carolina Dairy are a great fit for them. We believe that AmeriQual is the ideal owner to continue the strong growth that we experienced in those businesses. By combining Aseptia’s proprietary food technologies with AmeriQual’s market leading process expertise, we believe that innovative and transformative aseptic products will be brought to market in the very near term.”

“The sale of our manufacturing operations will allow us to concentrate entirely on expanding the adoption of our technologies around the world,” he adds.

“As a leading developer and processor of food products for consumer, foodservice, government and institutional customers, AmeriQual continually strives to bring the highest quality, most innovative products to our customers,” says Joe Penshorn, president of AmeriQual Group Holdings. “By expanding our manufacturing capabilities and employing Aseptia’s aseptic preservation technologies, we will be able to bring unique, better products to our customers. Acquiring the Carolina Dairy facility is also a very logical extension of our pouch manufacturing expertise into the yogurt category. We are excited about the opportunities that this transaction affords us.”