Consumer Goods Giants Will Race to Acquire More Small Brands in 2018
If you've kept up with merger headlines this week, you're aware that The Hershey Company's (NYSE: HSY) announced acquisition of Amplify Snack Brands Inc. (NYSE: BETR) for $1.6 billion is thematically linked to Campbell Soup Company's (NYSE: CPB) $4.9 billion purchase of snack maker Snyder's-Lance Inc. (NASDAQ: LNCE). Both are attempts by stalling consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies to beef up participation in the rapidly expanding salty-snacks category.
The deals provide CPG giants access to the extremely nimble brands held within these companies. Snyder's-Lance owns Snyder's of Hanover pretzels, as well as Kettle Brand potato chips, both of which hold No. 1 market positions within their categories.
Amplify Snack Brands holds SkinnyPop Popcorn, a healthy snacking option with a pristine list of natural ingredients, which sold its first bag of popcorn in August 2010, and cleared $213 million in sales last year. SkinnyPop's phenomenal growth enabled Amplify's IPO in 2015, and through acquisitions over the last three years, the company now owns multiple "better for you," or BFY, offerings, from British chips label Tyrrells, to non-GMO snacking favorite Paqui Tortilla Chips.
Source: Fool.com
