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HERSHEY, Pa. — The Hershey Co. aims to add more better-for-you options to its snack lineup with a $1.6 billion deal to buy Skinny Pop maker Amplify Snack Brands Inc.
Hershey said the brands from Austin, Texas-based Amplify compete in a range of strong food categories fueled by burgeoning snacking trends focused on products that deliver clean, simple and transparent ingredients as well as unique flavors and forms.
Amplify also brings a known brand-building partner that invests in category management solutions to boost conversion and velocity at retail, Hershey added.
“The acquisition of Amplify and its product portfolio is an important step in our journey to becoming an innovative snacking powerhouse, as together it will enable us to bring scale and category management capabilities to a key sub-segment of the warehouse snack aisle,” according to Michele Buck, Hershey’s president and chief executive officer.
“Hershey’s snack mix and meat snacks products — combined with Amplify’s Skinny Pop, Tyrrells, Oatmega, Paquiand other international brands — will allow us to capture more consumer snacking occasions by creating a broader portfolio of brands,” Buck noted.
Overall, Hershey has more than 80 brands worldwide, including such names as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers and Brookside. The company has been building on its core candy business by expanding its product portfolio to include a wider range of snacks.
“Since Amplify’s inception in 2014, our company’s goal has been to bring transparency to our products, and clean ingredients and great tasting snacks to consumers,” stated Tom Ennis, President and CEO of Amplify Snack Brands. “This transaction is a continuation of our mission as Hershey also believes in bringing to consumers great-tasting snacks made with the best ingredients possible. Hershey is a great cultural partner for Amplify, and I’m excited for our team, who will have access to Hershey’s marketing and go-to-market resources to take our brands to the next level.”
The agreement has been approved by both companies’ boards of directors. Pending shareholder and regulatory approval and other closing conditions, the transaction is expected to be completed in the 2018 first quarter.
