Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Co. Ltd. (CPF), Bankgok, China, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Bellisio Foods from Centre Partners, New York, for $1.1 million.

Bellisio Foods is a Minneapolis-based producer of single-serve frozen entrées sold under brands such as Michelina’s, Boston Market, Chili’s, Atkins, EatingWell and EAT! Bellisio maintains four facilities located in Ohio, California and Minnesota.

Bellisio Foods maintains deep strategic relationships with leading U.S. retailers with over 50,000 distribution points. Through its strategically-located, best-in-class production facility in Jackson, Ohio, Bellisio is able to distribute its products to more than half of the United States within 24 hours and nationwide within 48 hours.  

“We are deeply grateful to Centre Partners for their support and guidance since partnering with us five years ago,” says Joel Conner, chairman and CEO of Bellisio Foods. “At the same time, we are also extremely excited to be part of the CPF family and share their vision of being the ‘Kitchen of the World.’ I believe that our partnership with CPF will allow us to propel Bellisio through its next phase of growth.”

"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Joel and his team to bring Bellisio to its next phase,” adds Adirek Sripratak, chief executive officer of CPF. “This transaction marks the first step of our entry into the world's largest food market, where we see significant growth and synergy opportunities. We believe that through leveraging our combined strengths at CPF and Bellisio Group, we can bring greater variety of products, particularly Asian food products, to U.S. consumers as well as export our products globally. This acquisition is in line with CPF’s strategic direction to expand into high potential market. After the transaction, CPF’s revenue contribution from food business will rise.”