Kraft Heinz agrees to sell nuts business for $3.35bn to Hormel Foods

Kraft Heinz has finalised an agreement to divest its nuts business to Hormel Foods in a $3.35bn cash deal.

According to the agreement, Kraft will sell the majority of the products sold under Planters brand, which includes single variety and mixed nuts, trail mix, Nut-rition products, Cheez Balls, and Cheez Curls, as well as Corn Nuts branded products.

Kraft Heinz CEO Miguel Patricio said: “This is another momentous step in our rapid transformation of Kraft Heinz.

“It will enable us to sharpen our focus on areas with greater growth prospects and competitive advantage for our powerhouse brands. Within our Real Food Snacking platform, this means more aggressively driving real fuel for kids through Lunchables and real meal alternatives like P3.”

The businesses that are part of the deal are said to have contributed nearly $1.1bn to Kraft Heinz’s net sales for the fiscal year 2020, primarily in the US sector.

Kraft Heinz has also agreed to sell its Corn Nuts production facility in Fresno, California, as well as the Planters production facilities in Fort Smith, Arkansas; and Suffolk, Virginia. These will continue to operate with the existing staff members.

The facilities that are part of the deal will continue to operate in ordinary course with the existing staff members.

Additionally, Hormel Foods will acquire global intellectual property rights to the Planters brand, which will be is subject to existing third-party licences in certain international jurisdictions and the Corn Nuts brand.

Kraft Heinz CFO Paulo Basilio said: “This is a great example of using agile portfolio management to improve our growth trajectory.

“As we move forward, we plan to continue deleveraging as we explore accretive investments to accelerate our strategy.”

Completion of the deal is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to take place in the first half this year.

For this transaction, Perella Weinberg Partners served as the exclusive financial adviser to Kraft Heinz while Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher served as its legal adviser.