JACKSON, MICH. — Dawn Food Products, Inc. has completed the acquisition of the Unifine Food & Bake Ingredients business of Royal Cosun, Breda, The Netherlands. Over the next 12 months, Unifine will be fully integrated into Dawn as leaders from both organizations continue to work closely to develop and implement an integration plan.

“We are very excited to be working with Unifine’s many exceptional team members,” said Carrie Jones-Barber, chief executive officer of Dawn. “Unifine’s outstanding product portfolio will be an excellent fit for Dawn. We are looking forward to building several mutual successes in the future.”

Unifine operates seven manufacturing plants in Europe and is a developer, manufacturer and supplier of value-added pastry ingredients. The seven plants as well as 10 sales offices in Europe are included in the transaction, as are the brands Sucrea, Fruibel, Caullet and Dethmers.

Unifine’s baking products include chocolate, compounds, custard and crèmes, decoration, flavors and colorings, fonds, fruit fillings, gelling agents, pastry/baking mixes and savory products. Unifine also makes products for ice cream makers and food service operators.

“The acquisition provides Dawn people, our customers, suppliers and distributors with the ability to leverage a wider range of expertise while also providing several new exciting avenues for growth,” said Laurence Saul, president of global commercial and international at Dawn.

Cosun had been investigating the sale of Unifine for the better part of the past year. Explaining the decision in a recent announcement, the company said the division “no longer matches the defined core activities specializing in maximizing the value of agricultural raw materials. Unifine will be better positioned for growth in another constellation than under the Cosun umbrella.”

The transaction is not the first by Royal Cosun in recent years with companies deeply involved in the U.S. grain-based foods industry.

In 2004, Royal Cosun acquired the 39% stake owned by CSM n.v. in its natural alcohol supplier Koninklijke Nedalco. The transaction left Royal Cosun as the sole owner of Koninklijke Nedalco.

In February of 2011, Royal Cosun announced it had reached an agreement to sell the Nedalco alcohol business to Cargill.