The H.J. Heinz Company announced on August 2 that it has acquired the maker of frozen Mexican foods Delimex Holdings, Inc., from Fenway Partners, Inc., an investment firm based in New York. Based in San Diego, CA, Delimex will operate as a unit of the Heinz Frozen Food Company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. With sales of more than $150 million last year, Delimex supplies frozen Mexican foods to retail supermarkets and warehouse clubs nationally. The company's sales growth has averaged more than 20 per cent annually since 1993. It produces frozen taquitos, tightly rolled fried corn or flour tortillas with fillings, quesadillas, tamales and rice bowls. Delimex has production facilities in San Diego and Monterrey, Mexico, and employs about 800 people. "Delimex is a strong business that expands and diversifies Heinz Frozen Food Company's product line in the rapidly growing heat-and-eat, hand-held segment," said William R. Johnson, chairman, president and CEO of the H.J. Heinz Company. "This acquisition is on trend with the growing appetite of time-starved and increasingly mobile consumers for convenience and great taste."
