The Hillshire Brands Company was an American food company based in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
. Prior to its acquisition by
Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second-largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork after JBS S.A. It annually ...
, the company employed over 9,000 people and generated nearly $4 billion in annual sales.
History
Founding and early years
Hillshire Brands made its debut on June 29, 2012, after the former
Sara Lee Corporation
The Sara Lee Corporation was an American consumer-goods company based in Downers Grove, Illinois. It had operations in more than 40 countries and sold its products in over 180 countries. Its international operations were headquartered in Utrecht ...
spun off its international coffee and tea division and renamed the remaining units of the company Hillshire Brands. It began trading on the
NYSE
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the List of stock exchanges, world's largest s ...
that same day under the
ticker HSH.
Under the terms of the deal, Sara Lee's stock underwent a one-for-five reverse split. As of June 27, 2012, all Sara Lee shareholders saw their holdings transform into Hillshire Brands shares and shrink by a factor of five. In addition, each former Sara Lee shareholder received shares in
D.E. Master Blenders 1753 on a one-to-one basis. The company paid out a concurrent $3 special cash dividend on all D.E Master Blenders 1753 shares.
In May 2013 the split was recognized among the six most successful
Fortune 500
The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...
companies’ spinoffs by ''
Fortune
Fortune may refer to:
General
* Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck
* Luck
* Wealth
* Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling
* Fortune, in a fortune cookie
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
'' magazine.
During the fiscal year 2013 roughly three quarters of Hillshire's revenues (74%) were generated through retail channels while the foodservice business accounted for 26% of the company's sales.
Abandoned merger with Pinnacle Foods
In May 2014, Hillshire Brands announced it was buying
Pinnacle Foods
Pinnacle Foods, Inc., is a packaged foods company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, that specializes in shelf-stable and frozen foods. The company became a subsidiary of Conagra Brands on October 26, 2018.
History
The company was foun ...
for
US$4.23 billion in a
cash
In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins.
In bookkeeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-imm ...
and
stock
In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...
deal. Pinnacle Foods brands include
Birds Eye
Birds Eye is an American international brand of frozen foods owned by Conagra Brands in the United States, by Nomad Foods in Europe, and Simplot in Australia.
The former Birds Eye Company Ltd., originally named "Birdseye Seafood, Inc." had be ...
,
Duncan Hines
Duncan Hines (March 26, 1880 – March 15, 1959) was an Americans, American pioneer of restaurant ratings for travelers. He is best known today for the brand of food products that bears his name.
Early life
Hines was born in Bowling Green, Kentu ...
,
Hungry-Man
Swanson is a brand of TV dinners, broths, and canned poultry made for the North American and Hong Kong markets. The former "Swanson Company" was founded in Omaha, Nebraska, where it developed improvements of the frozen dinner. The TV dinner bu ...
and
Swanson
Swanson is a brand of TV dinners, broths, and canned poultry made for the North American and Hong Kong markets. The former "Swanson Company" was founded in Omaha, Nebraska, where it developed improvements of the frozen dinner. The TV dinner bu ...
frozen
TV dinner
A frozen meal (also called TV dinner (Canada and US), prepackaged meal, ready-made meal, ready meal (UK), frozen dinner, and microwave meal) is a packaged frozen meal that comes portioned for an individual. A frozen meal in the United States a ...
s, among many others. Days later,
Pilgrim's Pride
Pilgrim's Pride Corporation is an American, multi-national food company, currently one of the largest chicken producers in the United States and Puerto Rico and the second-largest chicken producer in Mexico. It exited bankruptcy in December 2009 ...
threatened the deal with its own bid for Hillshire Brands for $6.4 billion. To complicate matters further, on 29 May 2014,
Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second-largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork after JBS S.A. It annually ...
announced a $6.13 billion cash bid for Hillshire Brands. On 9 June 2014 Hillshire announced it had received a revised bid from Tysons valuing the company at $8.55 billion. Pilgrim's Pride simultaneously announced it had withdrawn its bid.
Acquisition by Tyson Foods
On June 30, 2014, it was announced that
Pinnacle Foods
Pinnacle Foods, Inc., is a packaged foods company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, that specializes in shelf-stable and frozen foods. The company became a subsidiary of Conagra Brands on October 26, 2018.
History
The company was foun ...
had scrapped its sale to Hillshire Brands, which would allow Hillshire to be acquired by
Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second-largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork after JBS S.A. It annually ...
. Pinnacle would receive a $163 million payment as part of the breakup from Hillshire, and Pinnacle would also receive an expected $25 million in one-time costs connected to the nixed sale.
Portfolio
Hillshire Brands was a manufacturer and marketer of packaged meat and frozen bakery products for the retail and foodservice markets, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second-largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork after JBS S.A. It annually ...
. The company's portfolio of brands included
Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Ray Dean (August 10, 1928 – June 13, 2010) was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. He was the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand as well as the spokesman for its TV commercials.
He became ...
,
Ball Park
A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...
,
Hillshire Farm
Hillshire Farm is an American brand of meat products marketed and owned by Hillshire Brands. The company was founded in 1934, and was purchased by Sara Lee Corporation in 1971. Friedrich (Fritz) Bernegger, (February 2, 1904 – April 30, 1988 ...
,
Kahns, State Fair,
Sara Lee
Sara may refer to:
Arts, media and entertainment Film and television
* Sara (1992 film), ''Sara'' (1992 film), 1992 Iranian film by Dariush Merhjui
* Sara (1997 film), ''Sara'' (1997 film), 1997 Polish film starring Bogusław Linda
* Sara (2010 ...
, Chef Pierre Pies, Aidells, Gallo Salame and Golden Island Premium Jerky.
See also
*
List of food companies
This is a list of food companies, current and past businesses involved in food production or processing.
Africa
* All Joy Foods
* Bakers
* BOS Ice Tea
* Cevital
* Choppies
* Clover
* Colcom Foods
* Distell Group Limited
* Famous Brands
* ...
References
External links
* (Now redirects to Tyson Foods)
{{Hillshire
Food and drink companies based in Chicago
Food manufacturers of the United States
Defunct manufacturing companies based in Chicago
Food and drink companies established in 2012
Food and drink companies disestablished in 2014
American companies established in 2012
American companies disestablished in 2014
2012 establishments in Illinois
2014 disestablishments in Illinois
Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
2014 mergers and acquisitions
Tyson Foods
Corporate spin-offs