Ice cream for all: Texas billionaire invests in Blue Bell Creameries

Ice cream for all: Texas billionaire invests in Blue Bell Creameries

Sid Bass has made an unspecified cash investment in the troubled ice cream company.

Is he coming to save the day? Texas billionaire Sid Bass has made an unspecified but significant financial investment in Texas company Blue Bell Creameries, which is fighting to recover from a listeria outbreak earlier this year.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, Blue Bell Creameries recalled all of its products from 23 states after they were linked to three deaths in Kansas from the deadly bacteria called listeria. Chief Executive Paul Kruse, a member of the family who has run the company since 1917, wrote a letter in May to all of their shareholders begging for financial assistance to survive the “financial crisis.”

Once third in national ice cream sales behind the companies that make Edy’s and Ben and Jerry’s, Blue Bell has stopped all operations and laid off at least 1,500 employees. The Dallas News reports the company has lost as much as $130 million since the outbreak.

Bass, 72, is a well-known investor and philanthropist ranked #1,118 in Forbes’ most recent list of billionaires. An heir to an oil fortune, he has used his investing prowess to increase his fortune. He was personally unavailable for comment when the news broke that he was now a partner in Blue Bell, but his office issued a press release stating, “We are excited to be part of the Blue Bell brand.”

Kruse was quoted as saying, “The additional capital will ensure the successful return of our ice cream to the market and to our loyal customers.”

No official release date for new products has been announced.

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