George Weston sells bakery business to FGF
Roughly seven months after it first announced its intention to get out of the bread business, George Weston has sold the fresh and frozen bakery business to entities affiliated with FBF Brands.
Still subject to customary regulatory and closing conditions, the deal is for an aggregate cash consideration of $1.2 billion. That is roughly ten times the estimated 2021 EBITDA of the Weston Foods fresh and frozen bakery businesses, which includes the Wonder, Ace Bakery, Country Harvest, D’Italiano, Casa Mendosa, Dave’s Killer Bread and Gadoua brands.
Founded in 2004, FGF’s bakery brands include Stonefire Authentic Flatbreads and Simple Joys Bakery.
George Weston first announced its intent to sell Weston Foods in March in order to focus on its Loblaw and Choice Properties lines of business. Today’s announcement does not include Weston Foods’ cookies, cones, crackers and wafers business, though the company says it is “actively engaged” in the process of selling those as well.
Familiar and new faces among senior additions at Proof
Toronto integrated PR agency Proof has made five senior additions to its corporate, health and strategy teams.
Leading the changes is David Gollom, who has been promoted to SVP on the agency’s corporate and financial practice, co-leading it with SVP Melody Gaukel and overseeing corporate communications and reputation management offerings across sectors. Michelle Titus has been named a VP on the same practice after seven years working on the conception and execution of intergrated campaigns at the agency.
On the public affairs team, Genevieve Tomney is coming back to Proof as a VP after a year at healthcare company Think Research. Also returning to the agency after two years at National is Tiffany Limgenco. who will now be an account director on the agency’s health and wellness team.
Rounding out the new hires is Melinda Frank DeFazio as senior director of strategy. Coming off nearly four years as VP of strategy at Mint, her experience with brands including Google, Best Buy, Bumble and Nespresso will be put to use implementing audience-first, strategy solutions for Proof’s clients.
Bob names new account service lead
Montreal’s Bob has hired Andréanne Cantin full-time to lead its account team as senior director.
In addition to leading relationships between the agency and its clients, Cantin will also become part of Bob’s management team, led by president Patrick Bibeau, to guide operations at the agency.
Cartin has worked with Bob’s client team on short-term contracts for several years, and Nathalie Turcotte, partner at the agency, says it was “natural” to pursue a longer-term plan to bring her client relationships, as well as expertise in experiential marketing, in the agency on a more permanent basis.
