Zentis said on Friday, Nov. 2 it acquired Sweet Ovations LLC from Speyside Equity, a private equity firm. Sweet Ovations has a manufacturing facility in Philadelphia and one near Los Angeles. Zentis has a facility in Plymouth, Ind.

Zentis, a family-owned business founded in Aachen, Germany in 1893, calls itself "the leading fruit-processing company in Europe." The company operates four divisions: fruit preparations for the dairy industry; gourmet jams, jellies and sweet cream spreads; fruit preparations for the bakery and confectionery industry; and confectionery products (marzipan and chocolate speciality consumer goods). For the dairy industry, it also offers stable cereals for yogurt.

Zentis employs more than 1,300 people at its main plant in Aachen and has more than 600 employees at sites in Poland, Hungary, Russia and the U.S.A.

Sweet Ovations was established in 1936. The company focuses primarily on the yogurt, bakery and ice-cream industries, as well as on large clients in the foodservice industry and in the well-known dairy brands. Annual revenues are more than $100 million, and manufacturing capacity exceeds 65,000 tons.