NJ-based food giant Campbell Soup Company has announced that its Australian subsidiary, Arnott’s Biscuits Holdings, has received acceptances for more than 90% of the shares of Snack Foods Limited, a leader in the Australian salty snack category.
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Campbell, which already has received regulatory approval in Australia for the acquisition, declared the offer to be unconditional. Under Australian corporate law, once a company acquires 90% of a public company, it is entitled to acquire the remaining outstanding shares regardless of whether they are tendered into the offer.
Total consideration for the shares is about A$255m (US$145m). Campbell announced its intent to acquire Snack Foods on 4 June 2002, when it offered A$2 per share. Shareholders also received a dividend of 2.5 Australian cents per share from Snack Foods.
Snack Foods had about US$125m in sales in 2001, and over the past two years its sales have grown an average of 8% annually. Arnott’s, the biscuit market leader in Australia, entered the salty snack category in 1996 with the acquisition of the Kettle Chip brand. With the addition of Snack Foods Limited’s brands in the potato chip, corn chip and other snack segments of the salty snack market, Arnott’s will be the number two producer in the Australian salty snack market, which has been growing at an annual rate of 7.5% over the past three years.
“We’re pleased that this acquisition has moved ahead in an expeditious manner,” said Douglas R. Conant, Campbell’s president and CEO. “The strong brands we have acquired will complement our current Arnott’s franchise and position its portfolio for additional growth,”
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