Milling & Baking News - May 14, 2013 - 10

Business 

of Grupo Bimbo’s first quarter citing
“positive volume and sales strength in
all key categories.”
“A number of new products were
launched in the quarter, including the
Sara Lee snack cakes, allowing us to
take advantage of opportunities in
the marketplace,” Mr. Quiroz said.
“All combined, these factors led to
almost 5% top-line growth in dollar
terms.”
By introducing snack cakes under

the Sara Lee brand, B.B.U. has taken
a step Sara Lee Corp. did not during
the 10 years it was a major player in
the fresh baked foods business. Instead, Sara Lee focused on building
a bread business under the Sara Lee
brand during the 10 years following
its 2001 acquisition of The Earthgrains Co.
With the introduction of snack
cakes under the Sara Lee brand, two
different companies are now selling

Post to acquire cereal, granola,
snacks business of Hearthside
ST. LOUIS — Post Holdings, Inc., a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of
branded ready-to-eat cereals, has signed
a definitive agreement to acquire the
branded and private label cereal, granola
and snacks business of Hearthside Food
Solutions, a portfolio company of Wind
Point Partners, for $158 million. The
transaction does not include Hearthside’s
bars, cookies or crackers businesses.
The acquisition will net Post the Golden Temple, Peace Cereal, Sweet Home
Farm and Willamette Valley Granola
Co. brands of Hearthside Food, as well
as the company’s private label granola
business. Both the private label and the
acquired brands are sold predominantly
through the natural and health channels.
In addition, Post would get access to
a 135,000-square-foot manufacturing
facility, capable of producing a variety
of product and package formats, and a
30,000-square-foot finished goods warehouse. Both facilities will be leased by
Post and are in Eugene, Ore., where the

business will continue to be based.
A spokesperson for Hearthside said the
transaction represents only a small portion of Hearthside’s business.
“This transaction expands
Post’s participation in the highgrowth segments of the cereal
category, and we are excited
about the expanded footprint
it provides us,” said Bill Stiritz,
chairman and chief executive officer of Post. “This acquisition will
provide us with expanded presence with new retail partners and
will be accretive to both top-line
growth and earnings.”
Post said it plans to combine
the acquired Hearthside businesses with its Attune Foods business,
a branded R.-T.-E. cereal business Post
acquired in December 2012. Founded
in 2006, San Francisco-based Attune
Foods makes Uncle Sam high fiber
cereals, Erewhon gluten-free cereals,
Erewhon organic graham crackers and

Richardson completes and details
Viterra milling asset acquisition
WINNIPEG, MAN. — Richardson International Ltd. has acquired certain grain,
crop inputs and milling assets from Viterra Inc. for $800 million.
The transaction was first announced
in March 2012, when Glencore International P.L.C., the largest publicly-traded
commodity supplier, agreed to acquire
Regina, Sask.-based Viterra Inc. for C$6.1
billion. At that time, Glencore agreed to
sell certain assets of Viterra to Agrium
Inc. and Richardson International Ltd.
As part of the transaction, Richardson
acquired 19 country elevators and 13
crop input centers co-located with those
elevators formerly owned and operated
by Viterra. Richardson said the facilities
10 / May 14, 2013 Milling & Baking News

will complement the Richardson Pioneer
network of grain handling and crop input
facilities across Western Canada. Richardson also acquired a Viterra terminal
in Thunder Bay, Ont., which will increase
capacity and enhance the company’s operations through that port.
“This is an important milestone in our
company history, and it is especially significant as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Richardson Pioneer in 2013,”
said Curt Vossen, president and chief
executive officer of Richardson International. “Through this acquisition, we are
growing our business substantially, both
in terms of assets and people. By increasing our presence in many communities

what are broadly referred to as sweet
goods under the Sara Lee brand. In
addition to B.B.U., which acquired
the fresh bakery business of Sara Lee
in 2012, Hillshire Brands Co. sells
the heritage frozen dessert products
of Sara Lee, including pound cakes,
cakes, cheesecakes, pies and sweet
breakfast products.
Contacted by Milling & Baking News,
B.B.U. declined to elaborate on the
Sara Lee snack cake launch. MBN
Attune chocolate probiotic bars.
In addition to Hearthside’s Eugene
presence, the newly combined Attune
business will have offices in Phoenix
and San Francisco. The expanded Attune
Foods will continue to be managed independently and will report to Terence E.
Block, president and chief operating officer of Post Holdings, Inc.
Post expects to complete
the all-cash transaction of
the Hearthside businesses by
June, subject to certain limited closing conditions. On
a full year basis, the transaction is expected to contribute
approximately $70 million to
net sales and approximately
$17 million to $19 million to
EBITDA, inclusive of expected annualized synergies.
Post said the transaction is
structured as an asset purchase with Post
benefiting from the “step-up” in the tax
basis of the acquired assets and the resulting tax deduction. Management estimates
the cash tax benefit of the step-up to have
a net present value of approximately $25
million to $30 million. MBN

across Western Canada, we look forward
to enhancing our ability to serve customers in new and existing markets.”
Richardson also acquired Viterra’s
milling business, which includes oat
processing plants in Portage la Prairie,
Man.; Martensville, Sask.; and Barrhead,
Alta., as well as an oat processing plant in
South Sioux City, Neb., and a wheat mill
in Dawn, Texas. The businesses will operate as Richardson Milling.
“We are excited to continue our diversification into value-added processing and build on the success we have
achieved in canola processing,” Mr. Vossen said. “The oats processing business
also provides us with an opportunity to
establish a presence in the U.S., which
will increase our profile and enhance our
ability to meet the needs of the global
marketplace.” MBN
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Milling & Baking News - May 14, 2013

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