Industry NewsDesserts

Dessert Holdings acquires Dianne's Fine Desserts

Dianne's product line includes cheesecakes, layer cakes, pies, tarts, and more.

Dessert Holdings has closed the acquisition of Dianne’s Fine Desserts, a provider of premium frozen thaw-and-serve desserts, from Geneva Glen Capital. The acquisition expands Dessert Holdings’ assortment of products supplied to the foodservice industry. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.

Founded over 40 years ago, Dianne’s product line includes cheesecakes, layer cakes, pies and tarts, brownies and bars, individual minis, and specialty desserts. Dianne’s operates two Global Food Safety Initiative-certified manufacturing facilities.

“Dianne’s possesses a distinctive set of product capabilities and customer relationships that are highly complementary with Dessert Holdings,” said Paul Lapadat, CEO of Dessert Holdings. “Dianne’s has an exceptional, innovative team that we are thrilled to welcome to the Dessert Holdings family.”

In conjunction with the transaction, Dianne’s Chief Executive Officer Mike Knowles and President Dan Scales will be retiring.

“We are proud to have grown Dianne’s into a differentiated national supplier and value-added partner to the foodservice channel,” said Knowles. “We are excited for Dianne’s to become part of Dessert Holdings and believe its scale platform and capabilities will enable us to continue to grow,” added Scales.

Adam Schecter and Jeff Gonyo, managing directors at Geneva Glen Capital, said, “We are truly thankful to Mike and Dan and the entire Dianne’s management team for the incredible effort and dedication that resulted in a strong outcome for all of us. The team was able to navigate exceptionally well through the challenges of the pandemic while maintaining focus on continuous operating improvements and delivering first in class menu products to its customers. We are excited to see the Dianne’s team take the next step in their growth as part of Dessert Holdings.”

Dessert Holdings was represented in the transaction by Ropes & Gray as legal advisor, PwC as accounting advisor, and William Blair as exclusive financial advisor. Dianne’s was represented by Katten Muchin Rosenman as legal advisor, RSM as accounting advisor, and Lazard as exclusive financial advisor.