The acquisition includes two bakeries in the United Kingdom and one bakery in Belgium that were owned by Golden West Foods, a subsidiary of RHM Ltd. These plants supply buns and English muffins to McDonald's restaurants in the United Kingdom, Denmark and Belgium.
"This acquisition is a culmination of many years of effort, and is a reflection of East Balt's commitment to the McDonald's system," Frank Kuchuris, East Balt's chairman and chief executive officer, said. "As McDonald's has expanded its reach worldwide, we have been there to make sure that the bakery products exceed McDonald's quality expectations."
As part of the acquisition, East Balt and C.H. Guenther formed a new company, East Balt Guenther Ltd. This company will execute the acquisition and ensure the development of McDonald's United Kingdom system.
"This partnership and acquisition will allow us to bring great capabilities to the McDonald's U.K. and Belgium systems as the bakery execution strengths of East Balt and the new product innovation and technical capabilities of C.H. Guenther are put together to provide value to East Balt Guenther's primary customer," Dale Tremblay, C.H. Guenther's president, says.
East Balt was founded in 1935 and operates 19 bakeries around the world. C.H. Guenther was founded in 1851 and operates four facilities in the United States.