That Was Fast — Annie’s Already Being Acquired!
General Mills has stepped up to the plate and announced that it is acquiring Annie's, one of the more prominent natural and organic food companies.
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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Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. www.247wallst.com.
