Food distributor Quirch Foods is acquiring Jackson TN-headquartered Butts Foods in a deal backed by private-equity firm Palladium Equity Partners through one of its affiliated funds.
Butts is a fresh-protein distributor operating five facilities in Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi.
“This partnership represents a great opportunity for the team to continue to grow the business with more tools and support than ever before in our 85-year history,” said RE Butts IV, president of Butts Foods. “It also represents joining a company whose family values, history, culture and vision are the same as ours.”
The acquisition is the first by Quirch, which Palladium said is committed to further expanding its geographic footprint following the recent opening of a distribution center in Greensboro NC. Quirch, founded by the Quirch family in 1967, distributes food to large and independent retailers across the United States, the Caribbean, and Central and South America utilizing a fleet of more than 120 refrigerated trucks and more than 700,000 square feet of refrigerated warehouse space across six distribution facilities.
“Butts Foods has been providing quality service to their customers for decades and it was a natural fit to our distribution footprint,” said Frank Grande, president of Quirch Foods. “Quirch Foods and Butts Foods will continue to focus on delivering exceptional service and support to our independent and national grocery customers with quality products, including our company-owned brands. We are excited to welcome the Butts Foods team to the Quirch Foods Family.”
Quirch Foods has been owned by affiliates of Palladium, a middle-market firm with approximately $3 billion in assets under management, since 2018.
“The acquisition of Butts Foods by Quirch Foods is in line with our strategy as the company’s management team continues to build Quirch into a leading distributor and exporter of protein and Hispanic food products in the US, with an enhanced presence in the Southeast,” said Chris Allen, a partner of Palladium. “We are pleased to support Quirch’s enhancement of its platform with the Butts Foods acquisition and are excited to welcome its talented employees to the team.”
