Hershey will take on new debt for $1.6 billion acquisition of Amplify

By Devika Patel

Knoxville, Tenn., Dec. 18 – Hershey Co. will issue new debt to fund its planned acquisition of Amplify Snack Brands, Inc.

Hershey will acquire all outstanding shares of Amplify for $12.00 per share in cash in a transaction structured as a tender offer followed by a merger, valued at approximately $1.6 billion.

“We expect to finance the transaction with new debt at market rates and we anticipate that our current credit ratings will remain unchanged as a result of this transaction,” senior vice president and chief financial officer Patricia Little said on the company’s conference call announcing the acquisition on Monday.

“We do expect that our leverage ratio will increase to the low twos after the transaction closes, an area we are very comfortable with, given our solid cash flow generation and overall balance sheet profile.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018.

The maker of chocolate and confectionery products is based in Hershey, Pa.

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