Middleby Acquires Australian, Italian Equipment Makers

The Middleby Corp. closed 2014 with a bang, acquiring companies on two continents.

On Dec. 22, the U.S.-based Middleby announced its acquisition of Desmon Food Service Equipment Co., a Nusco, Italy, manufacturer of chilling and freezing equipment with annual revenues of approximately $15 million. Its products include commercial blast chillers and refrigeration products.

Middleby followed that up a few days later by adding Goldstein Eswood, a commercial equipment manufacturer based in New South Wales, Australia, with annual revenues of approximately US$25 million. The two brands are well-established in the Australian and New Zealand markets; Goldstein manufactures a line of commercial cooking equipment including ranges, ovens, griddles, fryers and warming equipment, while Eswood makes commercial dishwashing equipment.

“Blast chilling offered by Desmon is complementary to our combi-oven platform to establish a complete cook/freeze system, which increases the efficiency of the kitchen and saves on food costs,” said Selim Bassoul, Middleby’s chairman and CEO. “Opportunities to combine their undercounter refrigeration lines with Middleby cooking lines to make an integrated preparation and cooking system are particularly appealing to our global restaurant chain customers.”

Goldstein Eswood has offices in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. Bassoul said Middleby’s addition of Goldstein and Eswood will significantly expand manufacturing, sales and service capabilities in their home markets while enabling Middleby to better serve customers, including global restaurant chains.

Desmon and Goldstein Eswood join more than 40 commercial and residential foodservice equipment brands already under the Middleby umbrella. Middleby is headquartered in suburban Chicago.