Blackstone Group is to acquire Birds Eye Foods for more than $1.3 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports. BlackstoneÔÇÖs Pinnacle Brands Corp. will pay cash for Birds Eye, the largest frozen vegetable company in the US, with the deal expected to be announced as early as today. The sale indicates renewed interest among private equity firms for acquisitions following a two-year period of volatility. Cherry Hill, New Jersey-based Pinnacle is one of the country's largest packaged-food companies, with brands including Duncan Hines baking mixes, Swanson frozen dinners, Mrs. Butterworth pancake syrup and Open Pit barbeque sauce. For the first nine months of the year, Pinnacle reported net earnings of $10.8 million on sales of $1.23 billion. Rochester, New York-based Birds Eye controls about 25 percent of the US frozen vegetable market, and employs 1,700 people. Birds EyeÔÇÖs branded frozen vegetables and frozen meals are sold by most of the country's major grocery retailers, including Wal-Mart, Kroger and Safeway. The company has warehouses and distribution centers across the Midwest in states including Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. For the year to the end of June 2009, Birds Eye had annual sales of $936 million and a net income of $53.6 million. New York-based Vestar Capital Partners holds a majority stake in Birds Eye after buying the company in 2002, the newspaper said. Pro-Fac, a 48-year-old New York agricultural cooperative, holds 40 percent. Birds Eye carries about $700 million in long-term debt. It filed in early October for an initial public offering to raise at least $350 million. Blackstone bought Pinnacle in 2007 for $2.2 billion. Neither Blackstone nor Birds Eye have yet commented on the reports. *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *