Tim Tam producer, Arnott, will be snapped up for $ 3 billion
The US investment company KKR & Co concludes an agreement to acquire the iconic Australian bailiff Arnott for over $ 3 billion ($ 3.1 billion).
The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald has confirmed that KKR has emerged as the successful bidder after a long auction process from the American owners Campbell & # 39; s Soup, which lasted for almost a year . That's the second multi-billion dollar corporate bill for the country's consumer sector in less than a week.
Campbell owns Arnott through his international division, which it first sold for sale in August.
Arnott's is the manufacturer of a number of popular snacks, including Tim Tams and Shapes. The company was bought by Campbell's 1[ads1]997.
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In a statement, a spokeswoman for Campbell International said the company "had not been sold."
"The process of disposing of Arnott and the rest of our international businesses is ongoing," she said.
Bradley Ambrose
First, the brewer of VB is sold, now it looks like Arnott's following.
A number of potential bidders had watched Arnott after Campbell put it on the table last year, including Kraft Heinz and Mondelez.
The last two companies in the race were reportedly Australian private equity group Pacific Equity Partners, and KKR.
Campbell's International accounted for around 19 percent of the company's net sales in the fiscal year 2018, and $ 202 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Earlier this year, Campbell sold its Danish Kelsen Group brand to Ferrero for $ 300 million.
Arnott's Biscuits Holdings, the Campbell-owned Australian company that produces its products, reported revenue of $ 1.04b for the 2018 fiscal year and a net profit of $ 76.5m, up 14 percent from the previous year.
The company had $ 1.64 billion in assets and reported borrowings of $ 470 million, but repaid the outstanding amount after Campbell announced its sales intent, and secured a $ 400 million syndicated facility agreement to facilitate repayment.
Campbell borrowed the company $ 248.6 million at the beginning of the 2018 fiscal year, which Arnott repaid.
If the deal were to continue, it would be far from the first first time an American giant has snatched up an Australian food icon.
Popular yeast spread Vegemite was put under the control of Mondelez in 2012, before being bought by the Australian dairy company Bega for $ 460 million in 2017.
The sale of Arnott's comes after the nation's largest brewer, Carlton & United, was sold by his European owner Anheuser-Busch InBev to Japan's Asahi for $ 16b earlier this week.
