AUSTIN, Minn. – Austin-based Hormel Foods is closing in on a deal to acquire the Planters snack brand from Kraft-Heinz, numerous financial sources said. The $3 billion deal is set to be announced next week, the sources said. Planters has been in the Kraft portfolio since a 2000 Nabisco deal that included the nut company. Planters then came along in the 2015 merger of Kraft and Heinz. Planters primarily sells nuts and snack mixes, including Cheez Balls and Cheez Curls. The brand’s mascot, Mr. Peanut, has been around more than 100 years.
$3 billion deal. Details coming next week.
Hormel profile
George Hormel founded the company in Austin in 1891 to package and sell ham. Other products followed: Spam, sausage, chicken, beef and lamb . Later came packaged and refrigerated foods. Among Hormel brands: Applegate, Dinty Moore, Jennie-O. In 2013, the company bought the Skippy peanut butter business from Unilever for $700 million. Three years later, in 2016, the company acquired Justin’s Nut Butter for $286 million. Planters gives Hormel a greater presence in proteins. Hormel headquarters have remained in Austin through its history. Worldwide Hormel has 20,000 employees.