Boulder Brands is paying $48 million in cash for EVOL Foods, a provider of natural frozen food products.

The sale marks an exit for private equity fund Alliance Consumer Growth, which invested in the company in January 2012.

Based in Boulder, Colo., EVOL Foods packages a variety of products, including burritos, quesadillas and other skillet meals. Boulder Brands is buying the company from a consortium consisting of Alliance, as well as founder Phil Anson and an investment vehicle backed by Revelry Brands and Spier Capital Management.

Anson founded Phil’s Fresh Foods in 2002, also in Boulder. In 2009, he partnered with Revelry and Spier Capital and created the EVOL brand.

According to Boulder Brands, the 12-month period ending Dec. 31, EVOL net sales are expected to grow 70 percent to $17 million. And in 2014, Boulder Brands expects EVOL to contribute roughly $25 million in net sales.

The deal comes after a year of seeing an uptick in M&A within the healthy and natural foods sector, which was covered in the Mergers & Acquisitions September 2013 cover story, "Snack Time."