Mergers & Acquisitions

Dean Foods will use substantially all of the net proceeds from the sale of Morningstar to significantly reduce outstanding debt, resulting in a stronger balance sheet and increased flexibility to execute against our strategies for our core dairy business.

The retirement of the Executive Vice President and President, Developing Markets, sparks an effort to streamline the company's operating unit structure given the size and importance of Developing Markets to future growth.

With this acquisition, the company's brands will generate approximately $13 billion in retail sales globally, with more than $2.5 billion attributable to the company's portfolio of athletic brands.

The integration process of Pfizer Nutrition into Nestle Nutrition, that will see approximately 4,500 employees of Pfizer Nutrition join the Nestle Group, is underway.

A new licensing arrangement will support the company's mobile initiatives and help it to stay on top of emerging technologies popular with consumers.

The transaction creates one of the largest packaged food companies in North America, with sales of approximately $18 billion annually. It will also position ConAgra Foods as the largest private label packaged food business in North America, with combined private label sales of approximately $4.5 billion.

The move may incite a bidding war with Bayer, which offered approximately $1.2 billion in October to acquire the leading provider of branded vitamins, nutrition supplements and nutrition bars in the United States and elsewhere.

Hostess Brands, Inc. has been forced by a Bakers Union strike to shut down all operations and sell all company assets. But with high brand recognition, it's expected that other companies may be interested in keeping products, like Twinkies and Ding Dongs, alive.