YOUNGSTOWN — A southern California private equity firm that focuses on mid-market companies has invested in Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream.

Terms of the deal agreed on in November between the Youngstown-based company and ClearLight Partners of Newport Beach, Calif., were not disclosed, according to a news release on ClearLight’s website.

“We knew Handel’s was special from the moment we were introduced to the business,” said Andrew Brennan, a partner at ClearLight. “The welcoming culture of the company, the incredible focus of the team on simply making great ice cream, the fanaticism of its customer base and the taste and quality of its ice cream itself were all inspiring to us.”

Handel’s began in 1945 with Alice Handel serving ice cream at her husband’s gasoline station made with fresh fruit she picked from her backyard. It has grown over the years to include nearly 50 corporate and franchised locations in California, Indiana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Utah, Texas and Oregon.

The menu also expanded and now includes more than 100 flavors of ice cream, which is made in-store, fresh daily.

“I knew early on that we had a shared vision for how to support Handel’s growth while preserving the brand’s core values and continuing to invest in the quality ingredients and process that make Handel’s ice cream the best there is,” Handel’s CEO Leonard Fisher said in the release.