Sara Lee Australia brand kept in Aussie hands after sale to Klark and Brooke Quinn

Iconic Australian dessert brand Sara Lee now has a new owner after it entered voluntary administration late last year.

Iconic Australian dessert brand Sara Lee has been sold after entering voluntary administration last year.

Sara Lee’s administrators at FTI Consulting announced on Monday that the brand, which employs more than 200 people in Australia, has been sold to a private company owned by Klark and Brooke Quinn.

“We are a small Aussie family that shared in the tradition of having Sara Lee Apple Pie and vanilla ice-cream every Sunday night at the dinner table and could not be more proud to put the Aussie made and owned stamp on the Sara Lee brand,” the Quinns said in a statement.

An iconic Australian dessert brand now has a new owner after it entered voluntary administration late last year.

Administrator Vaughan Strawbridge said everyone was “pleased” with Monday’s outcome and it was hoped the sale would be completed in the coming weeks.

“Staff and consumers have rallied behind the business during this tough time, and we are so grateful to the loyal workforce and management team who have made this process a success while they have continued to produce amazing products,” he said.

“We have enjoyed working with the Sara Lee team and are pleased to see them come through this process. Many staff have been with Sara Lee a long time and we have seen their passion for the business.”

The Australian and New Zealand branch of Sara Lee, known for its frozen cheesecakes, pies, and ice cream, has been trading in Australia since 1971, but went into voluntary administration in October last year.

The Quinn family are well known in Australian business circles as pet food tycoons, with Tony and Christina Quinn creating the VIP Petfoods brand nearly three decades ago, going on to make $410m from the sale of the business in 2015.

Sara Lee has become a beloved brand in Australia for its frozen treats.

It’s not the first time the family have been involved in the world of confectionery, with the senior Quinns purchasing Darrell Lea in 2012 when the brand entered voluntary administration.

They handed control over to their son Klark, known for his exploits on the GT Championship racetrack, and his partner Brooke.

The pair spent years at the helm of Darrell Lea, managing to turn the brand around after injecting $30m to the business and establishing a second factory in Ingleburn.

Their dedication to the business included moving into the Darrell Lea factory for a year in 2014 in a bid to get the company back on track, working up to 16 hours a day to reverse its fortune.

They then went on to sell the brand for about $200m in 2018 to Quadrant Private Equity.

Originally published as Sara Lee Australia brand kept in Aussie hands after sale to Klark and Brooke Quinn