Cramer Says Treehouse (THS) Is a LBO Fund Masquerading as a Food Company

Cramer also said the LBO market is hot with guys making money. He noted that KKR is actually down in Netherlands since coming public.  He thinks a food company Treehouse Foods (THS) that makes private label foods is a great play in LBOs.

The soup and baby food units and others are helping it.  The company is not just a food company, it’s a leveraged buyout play.  The owners have done this before with Keebler by flipping it to Kellogg (K).  He thinks THS is worth betting on.  The food business is slow and non-growth in general, but there are many great plays there that you can take advantage of.  This company is an acquisition company and it is growing earnings with select acquisitions.

He has profiled THS before, but they have still grown.  Now it has a high enough share price to go out and make deals and he would be a buyer of THS right now even at the 52-week high.

THS has a $18.33 to $30.50 52-week trading range.  THS closed up 1.5%at $30.64, a new 52-week high and above the old high noted from Friday; it traded up another 4% to $32.00 after Cramer touted this stock.

Jon C. Ogg
November 20, 2006