Ricos, the San Antonio Company That Invented Concession Nachos, Is Sold to Venezuela's Empresas Polar
The fifth-generation Liberto family business — founded in 1909 and selling in more than 80 countries — keeps its San Antonio headquarters and management team under the deal announced Friday.
Ricos Products Co., the San Antonio company credited with inventing concession nachos, has been acquired by Empresas Polar, the family-owned Venezuelan food and beverage company, the companies announced Friday. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The deal, carried out through Polar's U.S. subsidiary Alimentos Polar International, ends five generations of Liberto family ownership. Ricos began as a grocery founded in 1909 by Rosario Liberto, an Italian immigrant, and grew from selling peanuts to local circuses into a concessions pioneer: in 1976, Frank Liberto created the signature shelf-stable nacho cheese sauce that made him known as the "Father of the Ballpark Nacho." His son Tony Liberto has led the company since 2006.
Ricos will remain headquartered in San Antonio, and its operations and management team will remain in place. "In Empresas Polar we found the right steward for Ricos: a company that shares our heritage as a family-built food company and our passion for the Ricos brand," said Tony Liberto, the company's chief executive. Lorenzo Mendoza, president and CEO of Empresas Polar, called Ricos "a true American original" and pledged to build on "its people, its San Antonio roots, and the quality and traditions its customers have come to trust."
Ricos sells cheese sauce, tortilla chips, popcorn and other products in more than 80 countries, across branded retail, movie theaters, stadiums and other food channels. Empresas Polar, founded in Caracas in 1941 and now led by the third generation of the Mendoza family, has been in the United States for more than 15 years, including an International Grains and Cereals plant in Greenville, Texas, opened in 2014 to support its P.A.N. brand. BofA Securities acted as exclusive financial advisor and Norton Rose Fulbright as legal advisor to Ricos; Balandra Capital and Skadden advised Empresas Polar.
