Blackstone's Pinnacle Brands Plans to Acquire Birds Eye Foods for $1.3B
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Blackstone Group's (NYSE: BX) Pinnacle Brands Corp. is expected to acquire Birds Eye Foods for $1.3 billion the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Birds Eye Foods is the nation's largest frozen-vegetable company and is majority owned by the private-equity firm Vestar Capital Partners. The deal could be announced as soon as Thursday.
Bird's Eye, which currently carries $700 million in long-term debt, has a dominant market share in the frozen vegetable market, representing 25 percent of total sales in the industry. The company was acquired by Vestar in 2002, and employers approximately 1,700 workers, with warehouses throughout the Midwest.
The all-cash deal will add to Pinnacle's stable of branded grocery products sold throughout the country, including Vlasic pickles, Mrs. Butterworth syrup and Open Pit Barbeque sauce.
The deal is a sign that private-equity funds have become more willing to make transactions as the nation recovers from recession.
Birds Eye had filed for an initial public offering in October in an attempt to generate a minimum of $350 million.
Shares of Blackstone last traded at $15.55 at the close yesterday.
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