Acquisition · Food
Hi-Chew maker Morinaga to buy US mochi ice cream brand My/Mochi
- Buyer
- Morinaga & Co. (Tokyo)
- Target
- My/Mochi Ice Cream (MyMo Holdco), Los Angeles, California
- Value
- $130M (about $135M including fees)
- Status
- Completed on April 1, 2026.
- Date
- 2026-03-06
Morinaga & Co., maker of Hi-Chew candy, agreed to acquire My/Mochi Ice Cream, a Los Angeles-based frozen snack brand, for $130 million (about $135 million including fees). My/Mochi had net sales of about $60 million in the year to June 2025, and its retail sales tracked by SPINS were about $80 million. The brand keeps its headquarters in Los Angeles.
Why it matters
Morinaga is using the US success of Hi-Chew to build a wider American snack portfolio, adding a frozen category it can sell through the same retail channels. Mochi ice cream also fits its pitch of Japanese-style treats for US shoppers.
The deal
Morinaga announced the purchase in Japan on March 6, 2026, and its US unit announced it on March 9. Morinaga is buying all shares of MyMo Holdco, Inc., which indirectly owns The Mochi Ice Cream Company, the business behind the My/Mochi brand. In its Japanese disclosure, Morinaga put the price for the common stock at $130 million, or about $135 million including an estimated $5 million in advisory and other fees.
Yen figures for the deal differ by source. MARR Online reported ¥21.2 billion, while LogiToday converted $130 million to ¥19.5 billion. Morrison Foerster advised Morinaga, with a Tokyo-led team.
About My/Mochi
My/Mochi sells ice cream wrapped in sweet rice dough and calls itself the largest mochi ice cream brand in the US. The $80 million sales figure cited at announcement is retail sales for the 52 weeks to January 25, 2026, from SPINS data. The company's own figures are smaller: MARR Online reported consolidated revenue of ¥9.43 billion and an operating loss of ¥2.04 billion for the year to June 2025, and Just Food put net sales at $60 million with adjusted EBITDA of $10 million. The holding company had reported operating losses for three straight years.
US private equity firm Lakeview Capital bought the company from Century Park Capital Partners in January 2020 and brought in Bregal Partners as a financing partner later that year. The sources reviewed did not name the sellers in the Morinaga deal.
Strategy
Morinaga describes the deal as its full-scale entry into US frozen desserts, giving it a complete value chain in the category to pair with its existing US sales network. The company aims to double US sales by 2030. Separately, it is spending more than $130 million on a second Hi-Chew factory in Mebane, North Carolina, scheduled to open in 2027. My/Mochi stays in Los Angeles under President and CEO Craig Berger.
Closing
Morinaga disclosed on April 2, 2026 that it completed the share purchase on April 1, making MyMo Holdco a wholly owned subsidiary.
Sources
Kakehashi M&A News home
