Diamond Foods Inc. has received clearance from the United Kingdom’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT) on its pending acquisition of the Pringles business from The Procter & Gamble Co.
The clearance by the OFT follows Diamond’s June announcement that the waiting period for U.S. antitrust review under the Hart-Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 for Diamond Foods’ pending acquisition of the Pringles business from The Procter & Gamble Co. expired on June 20.
On April 5, Diamond Foods announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire the Pringles business from The Procter & Gamble Co. in a Reverse Morris Trust transaction valued at $2.35 billion.
The transaction, expected to close by the end of this calendar year, is also subject to satisfaction of other conditions, including approval by Diamond’s stockholders.
Diamond Foods is a packaged food company focused on building, acquiring and energizing brands including Kettle® Chips, Emerald® snack nuts, Pop Secret® popcorn, and Diamond of California® nuts. The company’s products are distributed in a wide range of stores where snacks and culinary nuts are sold.
