The Hillshire Brands Co. and Pinnacle Foods Inc. announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Hillshire Brands will acquire all outstanding shares of Pinnacle Foods in a cash and stock transaction. Under the terms of the agreement, each share of Pinnacle Foods common stock will be exchanged for $18.00 in cash and 0.50 shares of Hillshire Brands common stock. The total enterprise value of the transaction is approximately $6.6 billion, including Pinnacle Foods' outstanding net debt, which reflects an adjusted EBITDA multiple of 9.6x.
The transaction brings together two highly complementary businesses with leading, iconic brands to create a diversified food company with estimated pro forma 2014 sales of $6.6 billion. On a combined basis, the companies will have leading positions in key frozen, refrigerated and center of store grocery categories.