CHICAGO, June 14 (Reuters) - ConAgra Foods Inc CAG.N paid $57.5 million for the Marie Callender Pie Shops brand trademarks just last week, after holding a license to sell some frozen foods under the Marie Callender's name since 1994.
ConAgra sells Marie Callender’s frozen pot pies, desserts and entrees in grocery stores. Sales have grown to nearly $800 million annually and the brand is now ConAgra’s second-largest retail brand after Banquet, the company said on Tuesday.
The announcement came just a day after restaurant chain owner Perkins & Marie Callender’s Inc filed for bankruptcy in a Delaware court. [ID:nL3E7HD1CG]
ConAgra said that it acquired the Marie Callender’s brand trademark rights from the restaurant operating company on June 9 and granted the restaurant a license to keep using the name for its restaurant and bakery operations.
ConAgra acquired a license to sell Marie Callender’s frozen meals in 1994. In 2010, it added the license for frozen dessert pies held by American Pie LLC. (Reporting by Jessica Wohl, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
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