US food manufacturers Conagra Brands and JM Smucker have annnounced that they are to call off the the latter’s acquisition of the Wesson cooking oil brand, following objections raised by the Federal Trade Commission.
In a statement, Conagra Brands said: “While we are disappointed by and disagree with the Commission’s decision, we have determined that it is in the best interest of our shareholders, customers and employees to terminate the agreement to sell the Wesson oil business to The J.M. Smucker Company rather than pursue litigation”.
The deal through which JM Smucker was to acquire the Wesson business was announced in Q2 2017. It was to have been an all-cash transaction worth about $285 million that would have seen production of Wesson products switch to JM Smucker’s oil manufacturing facility in Cincinnati, OH after a period of one year.
Following the termination of the deal, Conagra Brands said it now intended to continue its evaluation of the role of the Wesson oil business within its portfolio.
Source: Conagra Brands
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