ELGIN, ILL. — The Middleby Corp. will separate its food processing business into a standalone public company. This separation creates two independent entities: The Middleby Corp. (Middleby RemainCo) and Middleby Food Processing. The company intends to execute the separation through a tax-free spin-off, which is expected to be completed by early 2026.

“Today’s announcement is the result of a comprehensive review of our business portfolio over the past several quarters and is an important milestone in our work to unlock Middleby’s full value potential,” said Tim FitzGerald, chief executive officer, Middleby. “Our team has successfully built a premier food processing business with necessary scale to take this next strategic step, enabling us to best position each of these highly successful businesses.”

The Middleby Corp. manufactures equipment for commercial foodservice, residential kitchens and food processing industries.

“As an independent company, Middleby Food Processing will become an even more focused and scaled entity, with solutions serving attractive markets supported by industry trends.” FitzGerald said. “Significant potential for growth exists organically and through continued strategic M&A, with a pipeline of existing opportunities. We believe this separation will deliver benefits for our customers and team members, all while creating significant long-term value for our shareholders.

“With a sharpened focus, we expect Middleby RemainCo to extend our market leadership in commercial foodservice and residential kitchens and fully capitalize on our synergistic portfolio of product innovations and premium brands as we further expand our margins and continue to grow our cash generation.”

Middleby Food Processing will enter the market with a portfolio of end-to-end solutions for industrial protein, bakery and snack processors. As a standalone company, Middleby Food Processing is expected to build upon its track record of long-term sales growth to drive returns at or above peer levels.

Middleby Food Processing will continue its focus on full-line solutions, further expansion into adjacent markets and launch of new product innovations. Alongside its actionable organic initiatives, Middleby Food Processing’s M&A pipeline supports growth opportunities and the ability to quickly scale.

Following the completion of the separation, Middleby RemainCo will exclusively specialize in kitchen equipment markets across commercial and residential customers, with a focus on driving organic growth of its portfolio of brands. Supported by a strong financial foundation, Middleby RemainCo expects to accelerate revenues, realizing the benefits of recent and continuing investments in next generation product innovations and differentiated go-to-market capabilities.