Hebrew National may soon answer to a different authority. Conagra Brands Inc. is in talks to sell the famous hot dog brand to Brazil s JBS SA, people familiar with the matter said. A deal, which the people said could also include the Egg Beaters and Odom s Tennessee Pride brands, could be valued at around $700 million. Any agreement is likely weeks away and Conagra could end up keeping the business or selling it to someone else, the people cautioned. Conagra in April 2019 said Hebrew National s sales over the previous year were $170 million, and Egg Beaters were $78 million. But the kosher hot dog s popularity and cultural cache transcend the brand s size, thanks in part to its long-running slogan, We answer to a higher authority.
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For JBS, the biggest beef processor in the U.S., buying the business would expand its reach into grocery store meat cases at a time when consumers have shifted their food-buying preferences toward supermarkets and away from sit-down restaurants.
JBS has a market value of over $12 billion and derives most of its revenue from the U.S., where its businesses include the Swift beef and pork-processing company and Pilgrim s Pride, the nation s second-largest chicken supplier.
Should JBS clinch the deal, it would expand its portfolio of consumer brands, which the company aims to build. Name-brand meat products tend to carry higher profits than bulk meat sold to restaurants, and to supermarkets in shrink-wrapped trays. In February 2020, JBS announced a $238 million deal to buy Empire Packing Co., parent of the Ledbetter-branded retail-meat products.
Mondelez to enter crackers category in Australia
Mondelez International has entered what it calls the premium biscuit and cracker segment in Australia and New Zealand with an agreement to acquire Gourmet Food Holdings.
The US-based snacking and confectionery major, owner of the Cadbury chocolate range and Oreo snacks, said the crackers deal is a strategic fit, with plans to accelerate Gourmet Food s growth, leveraging its manufacturing, research and development capabilities .
Current owners, Sydney-based private-equity firm CPE Capital, formed Gourmet Food in 2018 - when the investor was known as Champ Private Equity - through the merger of MaxFoods and Fine Food Holdings. Media reports in Australia suggested in January the private-equity firm had put the company on the market, with Mondelez understood to be one of the interested parties, along with other private-equity businesses.
American snacks giant Mondelez bites into CPE Capitalâs crackers biz
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American snacks giant Mondelez International has agreed a deal to acquire Australian cracker business Gourmet Food Holdings for more than $400 million
, marking a huge return for the businessâ private equity owner in less than three years.
The US behemoth that owns Cadbury chocolate is set to launch an assault on the local premium crackers market. Â
Paul Jeffers
Mondelez, best known for owning Cadbury and Trident Gum, is expected to incorporate Gourmet Food Holdings and its brands into its Australian portfolio and launch an assault on the premium cracker market.
Suitors said to be looking to net salmon business Gourmet Food Holdings
Gourmet Food Holdings, the Australian crackers-to-salmon supplier, is reportedly up for sale and private-equity owner CPE Capital is said to want binding offers to come in next month.
The Australian Financial Review, citing unnamed sources, said CPE Capital had drawn up a shortlist of suitors, which includes the private-equity firms KKR and Pacific Equity Partners, as well as Ritz crackers owner and US snacks giant Mondelez International.
The publication also said it had been told Associated British Foods, which owns Australian manufacturer George Weston Foods and Philippines-based food manufacturer Universal Robina Corp., were also preparing offers.