Campbell completes Snyder’s-Lance acquisition for $6.1bn

The Campbell Soup Company (Campbell’s) has completed the purchase of Snyder’s-Lance for $50 per share, which takes the enterprise value to around $6.1bn. 

Campbell’s is combining the Pepperidge Farm and Snyder’s-Lance portfolios to create a unified snacking entity in the US called Campbell Snacks.

The new business will be led by US Biscuits and Snacks former president Carlos Abrams-Rivera. He will report to Luca Mignini, president of the Global Biscuits and Snacks subsidiary. 

Abrams-Rivera said: “We carefully selected leaders from Campbell’s and Snyder’s-Lance to form the Campbell Snacks leadership team based on their expertise and understanding of how to leverage both businesses to support overall growth and profitability across the enterprise.

“The Campbell Snacks team will focus on optimising the value of our US snacks business to deepen our partnership with customers through the power of the combined portfolio.”

Campbell Snacks’ portfolio will consist of Pepperidge Farm’s brands, including Goldfish and Milano, along with Snyder’s-Lance’s brands, such as Snyder’s of Hanover, Lance, Kettle Brand, Kettle chips, Cape Cod, Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps, Emerald and Late July.

It will also include the company’s global baked snacks product portfolio including its Pepperidge Farm, Arnott’s and Kelsen businesses, which reportedly generated around $2.5bn in net sales in fiscal year 2017.

Following the addition of Snyder’s-Lance, snacks will now comprise around 47% of Campbell’s annual net sales rising from 32% last year.

Campbell’s soup portfolio will form around 26% of the company’s annual net sales and the company aims to achieve around $170m in cost synergies by end of fiscal 2022.

The company also hopes to achieve around $125m of Snyder’s-Lance’s existing cost transformation programme. Snyder’s-Lance posted $2.2bn in net sales for the year ended 30 December, 2017.