Peanut planters
Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Kraft Heinz is approaching a deal to sell his Planters brand to email owner Hormel for about $ 3 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
Hormel shares rose more than 6% in the report, but recently rose about 3.8%. Shares of Kraft Heinz turned positive and rose less than 1%.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said the deal could be announced as early as next week if talks do not break up.
As part of Kraft Heinz’s multi-year effort, executives told investors in September they had shifted from considering their portfolio as a series of products to how it can meet the different needs of consumers. The company has also cut less popular products from its range and sold part of its cheese business to Lactalis for $ 3.2 billion.
Planters is best known for its mixes of nuts and snacks and her pet, Mr. Peanut. In recent years, the brand’s most important talk came from an advertising campaign last year that killed Mr. Peanut and resurrected him as a baby in his Super Bowl spot. The campaign sparked a New York cartoon and a cold opening of Saturday Night Live. This year, the brand is giving away the $ 5 million it would have spent on an ad during the big game.
Kraft Heinz became the owner of Planters through a series of mergers. The acquisition of Nabisco Brands by Kraft in 2000 brought the brand new to its portfolio, then Kraft merged with Heinz into a 2015 megadeal.
Kraft Heinz and Hormel declined to comment.
Shares of Kraft Heinz have risen more than 14% over the past year, raising their market value to $ 40.82 million. Hormel shares have a market value of $ 26.455 billion, having risen nearly 6% in the last 12 months.
Read more about selling planters here.