The Hershey Company has agreed to acquire Amplify Snack Brands for about $1.6bn to boost its position in the snacking aisle and expand its portfolio of savory snacking brands.
The transaction amount also includes around $600m of net debt of Amplify assumed by Hershey.
Based in Texas, Amplify is a manufacturer of Better-For-You (BFY) snacks. Its brands include SkinnyPop popcorn, Tyrrells potato chips, Paqui flavored tortilla chips, Oatmega grass-fed whey protein bars and cookies to go along with The Wholesome Food Company, Lisa’s Chips and Thomas Chipman.
Amplify claims that its snacking products are made from simple, major allergen-free and non-GMO ingredients.
As per terms of the merger deal, Hershey will pay Amplify shareholders $12.00 per share.
Hershey also expects the transaction to bring in significant shareholder value driven by growth and margin expansion along with identified cost synergies.
The Hershey Company president and CEO Michele Buck said: “The acquisition of Amplify and its product portfolio is an important step in our journey to becoming an innovative snacking powerhouse as together it will enable us to bring scale and category management capabilities to a key sub-segment of the warehouse snack aisle.”
Buck added that the snack mix and meat snacks products of Hershey combined with Amplify's brands would enable the company to capture more consumer snacking occasions by developing a wider portfolio of brands.
Amplify Snack Brands president and CEO Tom Ennis said: "Since Amplify's inception in 2014, our company's goal has been to bring transparency to our products, and clean ingredients and great tasting snacks to consumers.
"This transaction is a continuation of our mission as Hershey also believes in bringing to consumers great-tasting snacks made with the best ingredients possible.
“Hershey is a great cultural partner for Amplify and I'm excited for our team who will have access to Hershey's marketing and go-to-market resources to take our brands to the next level."
The transaction is subject to the approval of shareholders of Amplify along with receipt of certain regulatory approvals and other customary conditions, following which it is anticipated to be completed in the first quarter of 2018.
