PARIS — Cérélia, a Paris-based producer of frozen and refrigerated dough, on March 30 said it had acquired US Waffle, a producer of pancakes and waffles, and received an equity investment from Continental Grain Co.

“With a proven track record of innovation and quality, we are confident that US Waffle will accelerate our expansion in North America,” said Walter Kluit, co-chief executive officer of Cérélia. “By leveraging Cérélia’s entrepreneurial spirit, industrial technology and experienced team, we plan to introduce new, innovative products and extend our presence in new channels and territories.”

US Waffle, Greenville, SC, was founded in 2013. The company’s retail division provides private label and house brand waffles and pancakes to supermarket chains across the United States. The foodservice/institutional division provides products to national restaurant chains, foodservice distributors and other food makers.

 Ardian, a private-equity firm based in France, owns Cérélia.

“US Waffle provides an entry point into the attractive breakfast category, where we will leverage Cérélia’s European expertise and technologies in pancake and waffle production,” said Christopher Sand, managing director at Ardian Buyout. “The US Waffle transaction both solidifies our strategic roadmap and underscores the strength of our partnership with the Cérélia team.”

The US Waffle acquisition adds to Cérélia’s North American expansion. The company recently acquired Wewalka’s North American pizza dough business and built a facility in Ohio.

Continental Grain Co. earlier in March made the equity investment in Ardian-backed Cérélia. As part of the investment, Charles Fribourg, director of CGC, will join Cécélia’s supervisory board as an observer.

“We couldn’t be happier to bring CGC into Cérélia as an equity investor,” said Guillaume Réveilhac, co-CEO of president of Cérélia. “Through our years of dialogue, we have developed a mutual respect for each other’s unique capabilities and believe that the partnership will strengthen Cérélia’s existing business and provide us with new opportunities to extend our reach into new products and geographies. We believe that we have a shared vision of Cérélia’s role in developing the future of bakery.”