HANOVER, Pa. — Utz Brands Inc., a leading U.S. manufacturer of branded salty snacks, announced Wednesday that certain of its subsidiaries, including Utz Quality Foods LLC, have entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of certain assets and brands to Our Home, an operating company of better-for-you brands that includes Real Food From the Ground Up, Popchips, and Food Should Taste Good.
Under the agreement, affiliates of Our Home have agreed to purchase the Good Health and R.W. Garcia brands, the Lincolnton, North Carolina, and Lititz, Pennsylvania, manufacturing facilities and certain related assets, and assume the company’s Las Vegas facility’s lease and manufacturing operations.
Following the close of the transactions, Utz and Our Home will operate under a transition services agreement for 12 months. The total consideration for the transactions is $182.5 million, subject to customary adjustments, and the transactions are expected to close on Feb. 5. In addition, post-closing, the parties will operate under reciprocal co-manufacturing agreements under which Our Home will co-manufacture certain Utz products and Utz will co-manufacture certain Good Health products. Certain Good Health products will continue to be distributed and sold on the Utz DSD network for Our Home. Our Home plans to continue to operate and grow the brands and manufacturing facilities under its platform while offering employment to Utz associates working in those facilities as part of the transition.
“We expect these transactions to deliver on our supply chain transformation and value creation initiatives, to fast-track our deleveraging timeline by a full year, and to accelerate our brand portfolio strategy to better optimize for growth. With this important step in the optimization of our supply chain and brand portfolio, together with immediate benefits to free cash flow from lower interest expense, we are well-positioned to execute against our expansion plans across the U.S. and deliver on our margin target," said Utz CEO Howard Friedman. "Our Home’s portfolio of Better-for-You brands is well aligned with Good Health and R.W. Garcia’s missions of bringing healthy, innovative snacks to consumers. On behalf of everyone at Utz, I would like to thank our associates within the Good Health and R.W. Garcia businesses for their many contributions. They have a great place within Our Home, and I am confident they will have exciting opportunities ahead.”
Aaron Greenwald, founder and CEO of Our Home, said, “We are thrilled to announce this acquisition from Utz as it significantly scales Our Home’s snacking platform and manufacturing footprint across the United States. These transactions support our vision to deliver snacks that satisfy while creating a sense of connection and comfort at tremendous value. Through our owned-production facilities led by our invaluable team members, along with a carefully curated brand portfolio, we aim to be the preferred choice for those seeking high-quality, better-for-you snacks.”
The transactions are expected to provide approximately $150 million in after-tax net proceeds, which Utz will use to pay down its long-term debt. The debt reduction is expected to lower interest expense by approximately $12 million in fiscal 2024 based on the company’s current outlook for interest rates, and to accelerate the company’s plan for achieving its target of approximately 3.0x net leverage by a full year from the end of fiscal 2026 to the end of fiscal 2025.
