Feb 18, 2004 12:00 PM, from staff and wire reports

Ralcorp Holdings Inc has signed a definitive agreement to purchase the assets of Concept 2 Bakers (C2B), including a bakery located in Fridley MN, a suburb of Minneapolis. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

With annual net sales of approximately $34 million, C2B produces frozen par-baked artisan breads and other frozen bakery products including par-baked custom breads, baked deli sandwich breads, and baked and unbaked cutout and standard cookies. The Fridley bakery employs about 200 people.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of February. Ralcorp's Bremner Inc subsidiary will operate C2B as part of its existing Lofthouse Foods in-store bakery business.

C2B is a division of McGlynn Bakeries LLC.

Ralcorp produces various store brand foods that are sold under the individual labels of various grocery, mass merchandise, and drug store retailers, and frozen bakery products that are sold to restaurant and foodservice customers.