Ropes & Gray Advises The Hershey Company in its Acquisition of Pirate Brands

Ropes & Gray advised The Hershey Company in its agreement for Hershey to acquire Pirate Brands, including the Pirate’s Booty, Smart Puffs and Original Tings brands from B&G Foods, Inc. The Pirate Brands purchase price is $420 million, or approximately $360 million net of tax benefits. The transaction, announced on September 13, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018, subject to customary closing conditions.

Pirate’s Booty is a fast-growing brand in the more than $2.5 billion cheese puffs category and a market leader for consumers seeking snacks with clean labels and no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. Pirate Brands will operate within Amplify, Hershey’s better-for-you snacking hub in Austin, TX.

The Ropes & Gray team was led by private equity partner Neill Jakobe, tax partner Aaron Harsh, IP transactions partner Edward Black and life sciences partner Kellie Combs.