J.M. Smucker is reportedly in the final stages of negotiations to purchase Hostess Brands, a fellow U.S. food manufacturer, as per media reports within the country.
Both The Wall Street Journal and Reuters have disclosed that the two parties are closing in on a potential agreement.
As per The Wall Street Journal, which initially broke the story on September 10th, a deal valued at approximately $4 billion could be concluded as early as today.
Reuters, citing undisclosed sources, indicated that a deal worth nearly $5 billion (excluding Hostess’ debt) was on the brink of being finalized.
In the previous month, Hostess, the manufacturer of Twinkies, experienced a surge in its stock price following a Reuters report that the company had enlisted advisors to consider takeover offers from a group of prominent packaged food companies.
Subsequently, unnamed insiders informed the news agency that corporations such as Mondelez International, Hershey, General Mills, and PepsiCo had conveyed their interest in acquiring Hostess.
Upon reaching out to PepsiCo, Mondelez, Hershey, General Mills, and Hostess for their input, only Hershey had provided a response at the time of writing. A spokesperson from Hershey stated, “It’s our policy not to comment on M&A speculation.”
Following the release of the Reuters report, analysts from Morgan Stanley noted that Hostess could present “diverse strategic advantages to prospective purchasers” and proposed that the company would align well with larger snack-focused firms like Mondelez and Hershey from a strategic standpoint.