AUSTIN, MINN. – Hormel Foods is acquiring Kraft Heinz’s nut business, which includes the Planters brand, for $3.35 billion in cash. The proposed deal is subject to regulatory approval and expected to close in the first half of 2021.

Included in the transaction are most products sold under the Planters brand, including mixed nuts, trail mix, Nut-trition products, Cheez Balls, Cheez Curls and Corn Nuts branded products. The agreement also includes global intellectual property rights to the Planters brand.

Manufacturing facilities in Fresno, Calif.; Fort Smith, Ark.; and Suffolk, Va., also will be part of the transaction.

“Planters is an iconic leading snack brand with universal consumer awareness,” said James P. Snee, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Hormel Foods. “The acquisition of the Planters business adds another $1 billion brand to our portfolio and significantly expands our presence in the growing snacking space.

“The Planters brand enhances our portfolio built for individual and social snacking occasions, and perfectly complements our snacking brands such as Hormel Gatherings, Columbus, Justin’s, Skippy, Herdez and Wholly. This acquisition also meaningfully broadens our scope for future acquisitions in the snacking space.”

The Planters nut snack business had sales of approximately $1.1 billion in calendar 2020. Operating margins are expected to be accretive to Hormel’s Grocery Products business unit in 2022. The company expects to attain synergies of approximately $50 million to $60 million by 2024.

“This is another momentous step in our rapid transformation of Kraft Heinz,” said Miguel Patricio, CEO of Kraft Heinz. “It will enable us to sharpen our focus on areas with greater growth prospects and competitive advantage for our powerhouse brands. Within our Real Food Snacking platform, this means more aggressively driving real fuel for kids through Lunchables and real meal alternatives like P3.”

In September, Kraft Heinz reorganized its brands into six consumer platforms. The Planters business was included in the Real Food Snacking platform, which the company said had sales of $2.2 billion. The sale of Planters will reduce the size of that platform by approximately 50%.

Portfolio reshaping also has been a priority for Kraft Heinz. In 2020, the company sold some of its cheese businesses to Lactalis Group for $3.2 billion.