DealBook: Hillshire Brands to Buy Pinnacle Foods for $4.3 Billion

Mel Evans/Associated PressPinnacle Foods' brands include Mrs. Butterworth's.

Pinnacle Foods announced on Monday that it would sell itself to Hillshire Brands in a $4.3 billion cash-and-stock deal.

Pinnacle stockholders will receive $18 in cash for each share held, along with 0.50 of a Hillshire share for each Pinnacle share. After the deal is completed, Pinnacle shareholders will own about 33 percent of the combined company. Including debt, the deal is worth about $6.6 billion

The deal will combine Pinnacle, which owns brands including Duncan Hines and Log Cabin syrup, with Hillshire, which has brands including Jimmy Dean and Sara Lee. Together, the companies will have annual revenue of about $6.6 billion. The companies said that after the merger, the combined company would be led by the current Hillshire president and chief executive, Sean Connolly.

The companies said in a statement that certain affiliates of Blackstone, which collectively hold about 51 percent of Pinnacle's outstanding common stock, have agreed to vote in favor of the transaction. Hillshire will appoint a representative from Blackstone to its board.

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