Specialty Foods to Acquire Archway Cookies Licensee

Specialty Foods Corp. (Deerfield, IL) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire cookie maker Lew-Mark Baking Co. (Perry, NY) and related affiliates. Lew-Mark, which was established in 1954, has an exclusive license to the Archway brand cookie business in the states of New York and New Jersey. Lew-Mark sales for the 1998 fiscal year were approximately $25 million.

Specialty Foods is the third largest cookie company in the U.S. through its Mother's Cake and Cookie Co. and Archway Cookies subsidiaries. The company acquired Archway Cookies in 1998.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to certain customary closing conditions including approvals from governmental regulatory agencies.

Specialty Foods is a producer of retail baked goods. In addition to its cookie businesses, the company's operations include: Metz Baking Co., the largest bread producer in the Midwest, and Andre-Boudin Bakeries, San Francisco's leading producer of premium, traditional sourdough bread since 1849. Specialty Foods is a wholly owned subsidiary of Specialty Foods Acquisition Corporation.

Edited by Scott Hegenbart