Hillshire and Tyson make merger official
Tyson Foods Inc. has signed a definitive deal to purchase Hillshire Brands Co. for $7.75 billion, two days after the maker of Jimmy Dean sausages and Ball Park hot dogs was let out of its agreement to buy Pinnacle Foods.
Chicago-based Hillshire agreed to buy Pinnacle Foods Inc. for $4.23 billion in May. But then Tyson and Pilgrim's Pride Corp. got into a bidding war for Hillshire, with Hillshire accepting Tyson's $63 per share offer last month. The deal with Tyson — which is valued by the companies at about $8.55 billion, including debt — was contingent on Hillshire walking away from its deal with Pinnacle.
On Monday, Parsippany, New Jersey- based Pinnacle terminated its sale to Hillshire. Pinnacle makes products such as Birds Eye frozen vegetables, Duncan Hines cake mixes and Hungry-Man frozen dinners.
Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson said Wednesday that it will pay the $163 million termination fee to Pinnacle on behalf of Hillshire.
Tyson's acquisition of Hillshire is expected to close by Sept. 27, the last day of Tyson's fiscal year.
