Branded and private label food giant ConAgra is making a $4.9 billion offer to buy private label powerhouse Ralcorp, reports National Provisioner sister publication PLBuyer. Ralcorp announced on Sunday that it had received and rejected an unsolicited takeover bid. Wall Street speculation centered around ConAgra as that bidder.
The latest ConAgra bid is for $86 a share. Ralcorp stock last week was trading in the $72-a-share range but spiked higher Friday on the takeover rumors. The deal would combine ConAgra’s $850 million-a-year in private label sales business with Ralcorp to create a company with $4 billion-a-year in private label sales, meaning about 25 percent of ConAgra total sales would be in the private label area.