Private equity firm Advent International agreed to buy Sauer Brands, owner of the Duke’s mayonnaise brand, from Charlotte’s Falfurrias Capital Partners, Bloomberg News reported.
The transaction values Sauer Brands at about $1.5 billion, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the sale. That compares with an estimated $300 million Falfurrias paid for Richmond, Virginia-based Sauer in 2019, according to various media reports at the time.
Sauer had been considering a sale to spice maker McCormick & Co., according to media reports. Other Sauer brands include Mateo’s Gourmet Salsa and Kernel Season’s.
Former Bank of America executives Hugh McColl Jr. and Marc Oken started Falfurrias in 2006. Since then, it has raised $3.4 billion in seven funds and become one of the largest private-equity companies based in the Southeast.
Under Falfurrias ownership, Duke’s mayonnaise has gained lots of national publicity, partly because of its sponsorship of an annual college football bowl game in Charlotte. After the game, the winning coach is traditionally doused in mayonnaise.
Duke’s brand dates to 1917. “Despite its long history, we believe that the company is still in the early innings of growth” Tricia Glynn, a managing partner at Advent, said in a release.
Boston-based Advent is the same company that bought the Bojangles restaurant chain from Falfurrias in 2011. It has about $89 billion in assets under management. It is a big investor in food and beverage companies