Pinnacle Foods - History

History

Aurora Foods was founded by Ian Wilson, a former executive with Coca-Cola and Dole, in 1995. Wilson used the company to purchase the Van de Kamp seafood brand from Pillsbury and several other brands as the years progressed. These brands were in many cases market leaders, but the parent companies no longer considered them a part of their core marketing strategy, and refused to spend any more money on new marketing and development.

In 2001, Wilson and other Aurora executives pleaded guilty to securities fraud for misrepresenting the company's financial statements. Wilson was sentenced to 33 months in prison and was fined $1 million.

In 2000, Jim Smith, a former executive with ConAgra, was named CEO and was charged with restoring Aurora Foods to health. He remained until 2002, which set events in motion leading to Aurora's acquisition. After the 2003 merger with Pinnacle Foods, Pinnacle closed the St. Louis offices, moving its operation to Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

In 2007, Pinnacle Foods was acquired by The Blackstone Group, a New York City-based private equity firm for $2.16 billion.

In 2009, Pinnacle Foods acquired Birds Eye Foods, Inc. adding a mix of frozen and specialty brands to its portfolio.

In 2012, Pinnacle Foods' Parsippany office was named Inc. Magazine's World's Coolest Office.

In 2013, Pinnacle Foods had its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange raising approximately $580 million for its owners, private equity group, The Blackstone Group. Shares began trading under the ticker symbol of PF on the 4th April 2013 at the upper range of its offering, $20 per share, thereby valuing Pinnacle Foods with a market capitalization of $2.3 billion.

Pinnacle Foods is headquartered in Parsippany, NJ and is a Top 1000 Company ranked on Fortune Magazine's 2011 Top 1000 companies list.