Truelink Capital acquires Fresno-based Lyons Magnus in $1 billion deal
Truelink Capital took control of Fresno food maker Lyons Magnus in a deal valued at about $1 billion, ending more than 46 years of Smittcamp family ownership.
Los Angeles private-equity firm Truelink Capital has acquired Fresno-based Lyons Magnus in a deal valued at about $1 billion, including debt. The sale moves control of one of Fresno County’s best-known food and beverage companies away from the Smittcamp family and into the hands of outside investors.
Lyons Magnus is headquartered at 3158 E Hamilton Ave. in Fresno and traces its roots to 1852. The company says it serves food service, ingredient and international customers, and markets the Lyons, Maui and Phillips brands. Its public company profile lists 501 to 1,000 employees, making the ownership change a significant local business shift for a Fresno employer with deep roots in the city’s manufacturing base.
The transaction also closes a long chapter for the Smittcamp family, which had owned Lyons Magnus for more than 46 years. Robert Smittcamp stepped down as chief executive effective May 15, and Ed Carolan, a former Campbell Soup executive who spent 17 years there, took over as CEO. For Fresno, that means both ownership and day-to-day decision-making have moved farther from the family that built the business into a national food and beverage player.
Lyons Magnus has already been through several ownership and growth phases under private capital. Paine Schwartz Partners made a strategic investment in 2017, and Lyons Magnus acquired TRU Aseptics in 2019. In October 2024, the company expanded again by adding Hormel Health Labs and creating Lyons Health Labs, a move that combined its nutrition and health businesses into a new platform. That pattern suggests Truelink inherits a company that has repeatedly used acquisitions and brand expansion to grow, rather than standing still inside Fresno.
The deal also lands after a difficult period for the company’s reputation. In August 2022, Lyons Magnus voluntarily recalled 53 nutritional and beverage products over possible microbial contamination, including items sold under brands such as Oatly, Organic Valley and Glucerna. The FDA later warned the company in 2023 over serious violations tied to the recall, giving added weight to questions about how new ownership will approach staffing, production and the company’s Fresno County footprint.
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