Utz Quality Foods, LLC | Stephens

Who We Are

What We Do

We provide investment banking, research, sales and trading, asset and wealth management, public finance, insurance, private capital, and family office services.

About Us

We are a family-owned financial services firm that values client relationships, long-term stability, and supporting the communities where we live and work.

The Stephens Story

The idea of family defines our culture, because each of us knows that our reputation is on the line as if our own name was on the door.

Leadership

Our reputation as a leading independent financial services firm is built on the stability of our longstanding and highly experienced senior executives.

Impact Initiatives

We are committed to corporate philanthropy; economic and financial literacy advocacy; and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Our Brand Ambassadors

Stephens is proud to sponsor the PGA TOUR, LPGA Tour, and PGA TOUR Champions careers, as well as applaud the philanthropic endeavors, of our Brand Ambassadors.

Stephens & Williams Racing Partnership

Stephens is the official investment banking partner of Williams Racing, one of the most winning teams in F1 history. We share that tradition of success.

Making Connections

We host many highly informative meetings each year with clients, industry decision makers, and thought leaders across the U.S. and in Europe.

Back to transactions
Financial Advisor

Utz Quality Foods, LLC

Value Not Disclosed 09/21/2016 Food & Agribusiness Complete
Private Companies, Private Company Advisory
Show Tombstone

Transaction Details

  • On October 19, 2016, Utz Quality Foods, LLC (“Utz”), the largest independent salty snack company in the United States, and Metropoulos & Co., the family-owned investment firm specializing in iconic American brands and assets, announced the formation of a strategic partnership, with Metropoulos & Co. making a significant investment in the 95-year-old company.
  • The Rice family, which has owned and operated Utz for four generations, continues to be the controlling and majority shareholder.
  • The Metropoulos & Co. investment, which was used to finance Utz's acquisition of Golden Flake, is the largest initial private equity transaction for a U.S. snack company since 2013, when Metropoulos and Apollo Global Management invested in Hostess Brands.
  • Stephens Inc. acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Utz Quality Foods.

About the company

Utz Quality Foods, LLC

Founded in 1921, Utz® Quality Foods, LLC is the largest privately-held and family-managed salty snack company in the United States, producing a full line of products including potato chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, corn chips, tortillas, veggie stix/straws, popcorn, onion rings, pork skins and more. Its brands, which include Utz®, Golden Flake®, Zapp's®, "Dirty"® Potato Chips, Good Health®, Bachman®, Bachman Jax®, Wachusett® and Snikiddy® among others, are distributed nationally and internationally through grocery, mass-merchant, club stores, convenience stores, drug stores and other channels. Based in Hanover, PA, Utz operates 11 facilities located in Pennsylvania, Colorado, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Alabama and Florida.

Metropoulos & Co.

Metropoulos & Co. is a leading, family-owned investment firm that leverages extensive industry knowledge, operational expertise and flexible capital to invest in strong brands and businesses in the food and beverage and consumer products sectors. Over the course of nearly thirty years, the firm has invested in approximately 80 entities – transforming companies, accelerating revenue and earnings growth and propelling to renewed prominence scores of iconic brands. Brands include: Hostess Brands, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Ghirardelli, Perrier-Jouet/Mumm, Chef Boyardee, Hungry Man, Bumble Bee, Vlasic, Gulden's, Duncan Hines, Aunt Jemima and many others.

Sources: Company documents and publicly available information.
  1. This material has been prepared solely for informative purposes as of its stated date and is not a solicitation, or an offer, to buy or sell any security. It does not purport to be a complete description of the securities, markets or developments referred to in the material. Information included in the material was obtained from external sources which we consider reliable, but we have not independently verified such information and do not guarantee that it is accurate or complete. Such information is believed to be accurate on the date of issuance of the material. No subsequent publication or distribution of this material shall mean or imply that any such information or opinion remains current at any time after the stated date of the material. We do not undertake to advise you of any changes in any such information or opinion. Additional information is available upon request.