Hormel Foods Buying Skippy for About $700 Million

AUSTIN (AP) - Hormel Foods is buying the Skippy peanut butter product line from Unilever for approximately $700 million as it looks to strengthen its business overseas and branch out beyond its meat business that includes Spam.

Skippy, which debuted in 1932, has 11 varieties of peanut butter products. It is the leading brand in China and is sold in more than 30 other countries.

Total annual sales are expected to be about $370 million, with almost $100 million of that from outside the U.S.

Hormel Foods Corp. said Thursday that it expects the deal to modestly add to its fiscal 2013 results and add 13 cents to 17 cents per share to fiscal 2014 earnings.

The transaction still needs regulatory approval in the U.S. and other jurisdictions.

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