US: Seneca Foods and Allens abandon merger

US canned vegetables makers Seneca Foods and Allens have announced that talks over a potential merger have ended.

In July, Seneca and Allens said they had signed a “memorandum of understanding contemplating a merger of the two companies in a stock-for-stock transaction”.

A statement was issued on Friday (2 September) to announce that the two companies had “terminated” the negotiations but no details were provided for why the talks had stopped.

Seneca Foods makes products under brands including Libby’s, Stokely’s and Seneca Farms. It manufacturers private-label lines and also makes canned and frozen vegetables for General Mills, which the US food giant then sells under the Green Giant brand.

In May, Seneca Foods posted a slump in annual profits on the back of lower sales. For the year to the end of March, net profit fell 63.5% to US$17.7m. The company’s EBITDA tumbled, down from $106.7m to $54.4m. Net sales dropped 6.7% to $1.19bn.

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