Pop Secret producer to acquire Pringles
4/6/2011NEW YORK — Diamond Foods Inc. is to buy the Pringles brand from Procter & Gamble Co. for $1.5 billion.
The deal is the biggest in a series of acquisitions that will more than triple the size of the producer of Emerald nuts and Pop Secret popcorn. Adding Pringles will make Diamond a distant second in the snack business to PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay, which controls nearly half of the market.
The move also lets P&G complete its exit from its major food businesses. The maker of Tide and Pampers has sold off Folgers coffee, Jif peanut butter, Crisco shortening, and Sunny Delight drinks in recent years.