Hormel Foods buying Skippy peanut butter from Unilever for $700M
by The Associated Press
Expecting annual sales of about $370-million; more than a quarter of that from outside U.S.
AUSTIN, Minn.—Hormel Foods, the maker of Spam, is buying the Skippy peanut butter brand from Unilever for about $700-million as it tries to grow outside the U.S. and beyond its meat business.
One of the U.S.’s most recognizable peanut butter brands, Skippy was introduced in 1932.
Hormel expects annual Skippy sales of about $370-million, with almost $100-million of that from outside the U.S.
Skippy is sold in about 30 countries, and Hormel said it is the leading brand in China.
The deal includes Skippy manufacturing plants in Little Rock, Ark., and Weifang, China.
Hormel Foods Corp., based in Austin, Minn., said that it expects the deal to modestly add to its fiscal 2013 results and add 13 cents to 17 cents per share to fiscal 2014 earnings.
The transaction, which still needs regulatory approval, is expected to close early this year.
Unilever, based in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, is one of the largest consumer products companies in the world.
It makes Vaseline, Dove soaps and Lipton tea.
