Companies and Brands

That Was Fast -- Annie's Already Being Acquired!

Annie’s Inc. (NASDAQ: BNNY) is one of the more prominent natural and organic food companies. It also just came public in 2012. Now we have news that General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) has stepped up to the plate and announced that it is acquiring Annie’s.

This deal is valued at $820 million and it calls for Annie’s shareholders to receive $46.00 per share in cash. The transaction consideration represents a 51% premium over Annie’s 30-day average closing price of $30.47 as of September 5, 2014. One thing to consider against a $46 share price is that Annie’s has a 52-week trading range of $27.86 to $52.38.

Monday’s release signaled that this acquisition will enable Annie’s to enter a new phase of growth and success while maximizing value for stockholders. Annie’s will continue to be headquartered in Berkeley, Calif., while General Mills is headquartered in Minneapolis.

For a comparison, General Mills had a market cap of $32.8 billion as of the close on Monday. This $820 million may not even register as a line item in the grand scheme of things for costs and dilution. General Mills had a gross profit of more than $6.3 billion and a net income applicable to shareholders of $1.824 billion in this past fiscal year.

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The companies said in the press release:

The Annie’s Board of Directors has unanimously recommended that Annie’s stockholders accept the General Mills offer. General Mills will launch a tender offer within ten business days to purchase all outstanding shares of Annie’s. General Mills’ offer will be subject to the tender of a majority of Annie’s shares and to certain other customary closing conditions including regulatory approval. The transaction is expected to close later in calendar 2014.

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