Hershey Company is close to acquiring SkinnyPop maker, Amplify Snack Brands, for $1.6B.
If the deal goes through, Amplify will be one of the first big deals new Hershey CEO Michele Buck has spearheaded since he assumed the position in early 2017.
Striking while the iron is hot
US snack sales rose to $89B last year — a rare success in the recently-sad market of unhealthy snackin’.
Despite generating close to $7.4B in sales last year, Hershey has faced immense pressure to provide healthier and more portable alternatives to their constantly on-the-go consumers.
Hershey joins many snack-leaders looking to expand their market reach by following the health trends: recently, Mars invested in the maker of Kind Bars, and just yesterday, Campbell Soup announced plans to buy pretzel bigshot Snyders-Lance for $4.87B.
Once you pop, you can’t stop
Amplify snack brands went public in 2015 after SkinnyPop blew up among reformed snack freaks: out with the sweet and in with the skinny.
Since then, Skinny P’s tried to diversify by buying UK snack maker Tyrells for close to $391m, but new competition and struggles to retain talent have caused their stock to dip.
A purchase from deep-pocketed Hershey could help get them back on track and ready to hawk some diet popcorn like the ol’ glory days.