January 4/Purchase, N.Y./Food & Beverage Close-Up -- DeMet's Candy Company has completed the acquisition of the TrueNorth nut snack brand from Frito-Lay North America.

DeMet's will merge TrueNorth into its existing portfolio of confectionary products that includes DeMet's Turtles, DeMet'sFlipz, DeMet's Treasures and DeMet'sStixx. DeMet's is owned by the Greenwich, CT-based private equity fund, Brynwood Partners V L.P.

"DeMet's is pleased to welcome the TrueNorth products to its family of brands," said David D. Clarke, president and CEO of DeMet's. "These high-quality, all-natural products will provide DeMet's with many new avenues for growth and innovation, both in market segments that TrueNorth presently competes in as well as in new ones."

"We are very pleased to have completed our first transaction with Pepsico," said Hendrik J. Hartong III, chairman, DeMet's and senior managing partner, Brynwood Partners. "We remain very active investors in the food sector, and we are excited to add the TrueNorth brand to our successful investment in DeMet's."

From the January 10, 2011, Prepared Foods E-dition