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Deal Detail
Hostess Brands to JM Smucker
EV / LTM EBITDA
17.9x
EV / LTM Sales
-
Enterprise Value
$5.5B
Primary Source
Morgan Stanley
Comparable Transactions
Packaged Foods transactions announced in the five years to September 2023. 30 with a disclosed multiple.
| Date | Target | Acquiror | Enterprise Value | EV/Sales | EV/EBITDA | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2023 | Costa Group Holdings | Paine Schwartz Partners | - | - | 10.9x | Financial |
| Aug 2023 | Alphia Inc. | PAI Partners | - | - | 10.7x | Financial |
| Aug 2023 | Sovos Brands | Campbell Soup | - | - | 19.8x | Strategic |
| Jan 2023 | Birch Benders (Sovos Brands, Inc.) | Hometown Food Company | $40M | 1.0x | - | Strategic |
| Dec 2022 | Bollo International Fruits | The Natural Fruit Company (Fremman and GPF Capital) | - | - | 10.0x | Strategic |
| Nov 2022 | AgroFresh Solutions, Inc. | Paine Schwartz Partners | - | - | 9.1x | Financial |
| Aug 2022 | TreeHouse's Meal Prep Business | Investindustrial | $950M | - | 13.6x | Financial |
| May 2022 | General Mills, Inc. (Helper and Suddenly Salad) | Eagle Family Foods Group (Kelso & Company) | $610M | 2.6x | - | Strategic |
| Nov 2021 | Dot's Pretzels | Hershey | - | - | 15.1x | Strategic |
| Aug 2021 | Sanderson Farms, Inc. | Cargill, Incorporated and Continental Grain Company | $4.3B | - | 6.9x | Strategic |
| Jun 2021 | Kerry Consumer Foods, Meats and Meals Business | Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation | $952M | 0.9x | 8.5x | Strategic |
| Apr 2021 | Dessert Holdings | Bain Capital | - | - | 13.0x | Financial |
| Apr 2021 | Olde Thompson | Olam Food Ingredients, Olam International (Olam Food Ingredients) | $950M | - | 11.5x | Strategic |
| Mar 2021 | Aryzta AG (North America) | Lindsay Goldberg | - | - | 13.6x | Financial |
| Feb 2021 | Dole Food Company, Inc. | Total Produce plc | - | - | 7.7x | Strategic |
| Feb 2021 | Planters | Hormel Foods Corporation | $3.4B | - | 12.5x | Strategic |
| Jan 2021 | C.J. Vitner Company (Certain Assets) | Utz Quality Foods | - | - | 5.9x | Strategic |
| Dec 2020 | Wholesome Sweeteners Incorporated | Whole Earth Brands, Inc. | $180M | 0.9x | 7.8x | Strategic |
| Nov 2020 | Cholula Hot Sauce | McCormick & Company Inc. | $800M | - | 25.0x | Strategic |
| Nov 2020 | Swerve, L.L.C. | Whole Earth Brands, Inc. | $80M | 2.2x | 14.8x | Strategic |
| Oct 2020 | Crisco (from J.M. Smucker Co.) | B&G Foods, Inc. | $550M | 2.0x | 7.9x | Strategic |
| Aug 2020 | Birch Benders, LLC | Sovos Brands, Inc. | $146M | 2.5x | - | Strategic |
| Jun 2020 | Utz Brands | Collier Creek Holdings | $1.6B | - | 13.0x | – |
| Dec 2019 | Whole Earth Brands (Merisant Co. and MAFCO Worldwide) | Act II Global Acquisition Corp. | $575M | - | 9.1x | Financial |
| Dec 2019 | Merisant Co. / MAFCO Worldwide LLC (Whole Earth Brands, Inc.) | Act II Global Acquisition Corp. | $516M | 1.9x | 8.2x | Financial |
| Apr 2019 | Keebler and certain other brands | Ferrero Group | - | - | 9.3x | Strategic |
| Apr 2019 | Kellogg Company (cookies) | The Ferrero Group | - | - | 9.0x | Strategic |
| Apr 2019 | Keebler | The Ferrero Group | $1.3B | - | 9.0x | Strategic |
| Oct 2018 | Greencore Group's US Business | Hearthside Food Solutions LLC | - | - | 14.2x | Strategic |
| Sep 2018 | Pirate Brands | Hershey | $420M | 4.6x | - | Strategic |
| Mean | 2.1x | 11.4x | ||||
| Median | 2.0x | 10.3x |
All Observations
Source-specific multiples and notes for this transaction.
| Comp | Primary? | Source Type | Source | Source Advisor | Source Year | EV (USD) | EV/Sales | EV/EBITDA | EV/Fwd EBITDA | Note | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | fairness opinion | TWNK FO | Morgan Stanley | 2023 | $5.5B | - | 17.9x | 17.0x | Target's own FO (Morgan Stanley, S-4/A filed 2023-10-24). Enterprise value $5,520.4m is DISCLOSED: the pro forma total estimated purchase price, comprising $490.2m of Smucker shares issued, $3,985.8m cash consideration net of cash acquired, $985.0m assumed Hostess debt and a $59.4m assumed debt-like item. Merger consideration $34.25 per share ($30.00 cash + $4.25 in stock at an 0.03002 exchange ratio), a 54% premium to the 2023-08-24 unaffected close. The forward multiple is fully disclosed: 17.0x on Management Case 2023E Adjusted EBITDA of $325m (17.1x on the $323m Street Case; 15.5x on 2024E of $356m). The LTM multiple of 17.9x is DERIVED, not printed: Morgan Stanley applied an implied AV/LTM Adj. EBITDA range of 16.0x-20.0x to Hostess Adjusted EBITDA for the twelve months ended June 30, 2023 without stating that figure, but it is recoverable from the resulting implied per-share range of $29.75-$38.80 - the 4.0x spread maps to $9.05 per share, so EBITDA = 2.2625 x fully diluted shares. Shares follow from the disclosed $175.0m termination fee being 3.75% of equity value at $34.25, giving equity of $4,666.7m and 136.3m shares, hence LTM Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $308m and implied net debt of approximately $879m. Cross-checks: equity plus net debt is $5,546m against the $5,520m pro forma figure (within 0.5%), and the K FO citation of this deal independently carries EV $5,500m at 17.9x LTM and 17.2x forward. Advisor range carried here is Morgan Stanley's applied precedent transactions range of 16.0x-20.0x. | Open | |
| - | Registration Filing | UTZ BofA Materials | BofA | 2026 | $5.6B | - | 17.2x | - | - | Open | |
| - | fairness opinion | UTZ FO | Citi | 2026 | $5.5B | - | 17.8x | - | - | Open | |
| - | fairness opinion | K FO | Lazard | 2024 | - | - | 17.9x | - | - | Open | |
| - | fairness opinion | K FO | Goldman Sachs | 2024 | $5.5B | - | - | 17.2x | - | Open | |
| - | fairness opinion | K FO | Lazard | - | - | - | 17.9x | - | - | Open |