South Korean food manufacturer CJ CheilJedang has bought a majority stake in Schwan’s, a US food manufacturer with brands such as Tony’s, Red Baron, and Freschetta pizza, for US$1.84 billion. CJ CheilJedang says that the deal, expected to close by next year, will help it expand overseas.

The deal will include 80 percent of Schwan’s Company and specific subsidiaries that focus on retail foods, grocery channels and food-service venues. The Schwan business will retain a 20 percent ownership in the businesses being sold to CJ CheilJedang and will also retain 100 percent ownership in Schwan’s Home Service, Inc., which represents the home-delivery business that Marvin Schwan launched in 1952.

The sale will include Schwan’s manufacturing and logistics operations and various professional and administrative services.

The acquisition comes shortly after CJ CheilJedang acquired US firm Kahiki Foods and Germany’s Mainfrost to bolster its foreign business.

“This is an exciting time at Schwan’s. Over the past 66 years, our family has proudly built a unique and successful food business that reaches consumers virtually everywher they eat,” comments Paul Schwan, a Schwan’s board member and son of the company’s founder. “By becoming a part of an innovative and global team such as CJ CheilJedang, our company will be positioned to achieve new levels of growth in the spirit of the vision put forth by my father, Marvin Schwan, many years ago.”

“We are entering a new and exciting era at Schwan’s, and we look forward to working with our new team members to strengthen our operations and accelerate growth for the benefit of consumers, customers and employees,” notes Schwan’s CEO Dimitrios Smyrnios.

“CJ CheilJedang is an extraordinarily world-class and innovative company well-known for their success worldwide, and we are very impressed with their global growth plans and investments in the US. The future for Schwan’s is very bright,” he adds.

The purchase agreement with CJ CheilJedang is the result of a strategic process led by the Schwan family, the company’s board of directors and members of the senior management team to identify the right company to invest in the long-term future of Schwan’s, according to the company.

once the transaction is closed, Schwan’s will reportedly be operated as a subsidiary of CJ Foods America Corp., and its operations will continue to be headquartered at its corporate offices in Marshall and Bloomington, Minnesota.