WSJ: Post Holdings Nears $2.5 Bln Deal For Michael Foods

(RTTNews) - Cereal maker Post Holdings, Inc. (POST) is nearing a deal to buy food processing and distribution company Michael Foods Group Inc. for about $2.5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. A deal, trumping a rival bid from Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN), could be announced as early as Thursday.

Michael Foods is a food processor and distributor with business in egg products, refrigerated grocery and potato products. An acquisition of the company will allow Post, the maker of ready-to-eat breakfast cereals like the Raisin Bran, Honeycomb and Honey Bunches of Oats brands, to expand into eggs and dairy goods.

Packaged-food companies are under pressure to boost their revenues amid slack consumer spending and as consumers increasingly turn to healthier food options. In January, Post Holdings completed the acquisition of private label pasta manufacturer Dakota Growers Pasta Company.

Post said in December that it agreed to acquire Golden Boy Foods Ltd. and Dymatize Enterprises, LLC in two unrelated transactions. The company noted that these deals further its efforts to expand into the private label and active nutrition categories.

Minnetonka, Minnesota-based Michael Foods was bought in 2003 by Boston-based private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners, which sold an 80 percent stake in 2010 to the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS). That deal valued Michael Foods at $1.7 billion including debt. Thomas Lee retains a 20 percent stake in Michael Foods after the sale to Goldman Sachs.

Michael Foods, whose brands include Simply Potatoes, All Whites and Crystal Farms, reported net income of $50.36 million for the year ended December 28, 2013. This represents a 67 percent increase from the prior year. Net sales for the year grew 5 percent from the prior year to $1.95 billion.

St. Louis, Missouri-based Post Holdings, which was spun off from the private food company Ralcorp Holdings in 2012, reported a loss for the recent first quarter in January.

The company's net loss for the first quarter was $5.0 million or $0.15 per share, compared to net income of $7.6 million or $0.23 per share in the same period last year. Net sales for the quarter grew 25 percent to $297.0 million from $236.9 million in the year-ago period.

POST closed Wednesday's trading at $54.73, up $2.93 or 5.66 percent on a volume of 1.73 million shares.