U.S. Skippy Biz Sold to Hormel

Hormel Foods Corp., based in Austin, Minn., has completed its acquisition of the U.S.-based Skippy peanut butter business from Unilever USA in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. The deal includes the Little Rock, Ark., manufacturing facility and all sales worldwide, except in China. Hormel expects to close the acquisition of the China-based Skippy business by the end of its fiscal year 2013.

Earlier this month, the two companies revealed the approximately $700 million global deal, which includes the Skippy trademarks and two manufacturing facilities, the Little Rock plant and one in China. Total annual sales for Skippy are expected to be about $370 million, with almost $100 million of those sales outside the United States.

The domestic Skippy product line consists of 11 varieties of shelf-stable peanut butter products. The brand, first introduced in 1932, holds the No. 2 share in the popular peanut butter category and is the top brand in the faster-growing natural peanut butter subcategory.

Internationally, Skippy peanut butter is the No. 1 peanut butter brand in China and sold in more than 30 other countries across five continents.