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Hillshire Brands

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It was a bumper week of 2014 financial results, particularly from the US, but a flurry of announcements - including some surprise admissions - from across the pond on Thursday perhaps best served to underline the challenges facing mainstream food manufacturers in the country.

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Brazil-based JBS is already the world's largest meat supplier but it has its sights on growing further in value-added products and in Asia - and has turned to a business in Australia to help it achieve that goal.

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Sales in the frozen aisle have been lacklustre in the US for some years. However, increased competitive activity from the likes of Nestle, ConAgra Foods and Tyson Foods could help rejuvenate the sector, Katy Askew suggests.

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Tyson Foods has won through in the bidding war to acquire Hillshire Brands with an improved US$63 per share offer for the for the Jimmy Dean maker. But, at 16.7x EBITDA, is the lofty price of US$8.55bn overly inflated? Katy Askew investigates.

Tyson Foods unit Van's International Foods has agreed up to US$9m in settlement fees over a class lawsuit that alleged it "falsely advertised" products as natural when they "included a synthetic ingredient".

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Tyson Foods reported higher first-half earnings on the back of a jump in revenue at its prepared foods unit, where sales were lifted by last year's acquisition of Hillshire Brands.

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Former Hillshire Brands chief executive Sean Connolly has been appointed the new CEO at ConAgra Foods.

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Tyson Foods said it made a "great" start to the year, as sales and earnings rose in the wake of its acquisition of Hillshire Brands.

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In the first of the week's big deals, Post announced the acquisition of MOM brands, a fellow US breakfast cereal manufacturer. Post said the buy would cement its position as the third-largest cereal maker in the US.

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Our analysis of the key developments and trends in emerging markets - both within the countries and how local companies are eyeing expansion - attracted your attention in 2014.

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The takeover battles for Chiquita Brands International and for Hillshire Brands were among the stories that grabbed your interest in 2014.

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Tyson Foods has announced the re-opening of its turkey processing plant in Storm Lake, Iowa, after a fire saw it idled for eight months.

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Tyson Foods has delivered an increase in annual sales and profits, with the year ending with underlying fourth-quarter earnings per share that beat analyst forecasts.

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Tyson Foods has agreed to sell its sow purchasing business in order to secure regulatory clearance of its acquisition of Hillshire Brands.

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PepsiCo has insisted a lawsuit over the Aunt Jemima brand seeking US$2bn in royalties is "without merit".

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US food group Hillshire Brands, set to be taken over by meat giant Tyson Foods, has reported a year of increasing sales and profits.

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US food group Hillshire Brands is launching a line of "premium" all-natural lunchmeat.

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US poultry processor Pilgrim's Pride has reported higher half-year profits as a lower cost of sales helped offset a dip in sales.

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Hillshire Brands has extended its Jimmy Dean line beyond the breakfast table with the launch of lunch and dinner offerings.

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This week, Treehouse Foods announced a deal to buy US private-label peer Flagstone Foods. In other M&A news in the US, Tyson Foods and Hillshire Brands finalised an agreement over a takeover of the Jimmy Dean meats manufacturer. Chinese firm Huaxia Dairy and ethnic foods supplier Shazans both announced expansion following investments in the companies. Elsewhere, Burton's Biscuit Co. was in hot water with union officials after announcing 64 jobs were to go at its Edinburgh site.

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Tyson Foods and Hillshire Brands today (2 July) entered into a "definitive" agreement that will see the US meat processor acquire the maker of Jimmy Dean sausages for US$8.55bn.

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Pinnacle Foods plans to use the break-up fee it will receive from the termination of its proposed agreement to be sold to Hillshire Brands to lower its debts.

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US poultry processor Pilgrim's Pride has confirmed it is still looking to make acquisitions after pulling out of the race to buy Jimmy Dean sausage maker Hillshire Brands.

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Free-from has been a focus for just-food this week. Growing awareness of dietary issues are propelling demand for free-from products from lifestylers and consumers with intolerances or allergies alike.

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Pinnacle Foods has opened an R&D pilot plant at Rutgers University in a move it said would increase its R&D capacity, improve speed to market and advance its "mission" to "reinvigorate iconic brands".

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Tyson Foods has confirmed that, following the conclusion of a competitive bidding process, it has submitted a US$8.55bn binding offer to acquire Hillshire Brands.

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Tyson Foods has reportedly raised its bid for Hillshire Brands, outbidding rival Pilgrim's Pride in the battle to take control of the Jimmy Dean maker.

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Several major deals were struck this week including ABF's buy of Dorset Cereals and Cloetta's acquisition of Aran. Pilgrim's Pride upped its bid for Hillshire Brands. Elsewhere Cloetta has been accused of using "sneaky" marketing tactics to sell its sugary Chewits product. Mondelez on the other hand pulled its Bar and a Half product in a bid to reduce per person calorie intake.

Nestle, Danone, Kerry Group and Tyson Foods are among the multinational consumer goods manufacturers presenting next week at the Consumer Analyst Group of Europe conference in London - of which just-food and sister site just-drinks.com are the exclusive media partners.

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Tyson Foods has completed its US$8.55bn acquisition of Hillshire Brands, with shares in the Jimmy Dean sausage maker delisted before the market opened today (29 August) - and its CEO leaving the business.