
SkinnyPop Is Back on the Auction Block After 8 Months Under TA Associates
NEW YORK (The Deal) -- SkinnyPop Popcorn LLC is hopping back on the auction block after selling a stake to private-equity firm TA Associates only eight months ago, according to industry sources.
The Chicago-based snack-food company has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS) - Get Report to advise it on a sale, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Neither SkinnyPop, Goldman Sachs nor TA Associates responded to a request for comment.
In August, Boston-based TA Associates bought a stake in SkinnyPop, valuing it at around three times SkinnyPop's annual revenue of more than $50 million, according to sources.
TA Associates is likely to get a return of at least two times the equity it invested in the deal, according to a source.
The quick turnaround time on TA Associates' investment is due to SkinnyPop's continued growth combined with peak valuations, the source said. In fact, industry observers have said that valuations are unlikely to increase from where they are now, although they are also not predicting that multiples will begin to decline anytime soon.
TA Associates was working with the company's founders, Pam Netzky and Andy Friedman, to continue to build the brand.
Tom Ennis, the former chief executive of Oberto Brands, joined SkinnyPop as CEO to expand the company.
B&G Foods (BGS) - Get Report, General Mills (GIS) - Get Report, Kellogg (K) - Get Report, J.M. Smucker (SJM) - Get Report, Hershey (HSY) - Get Report, Mondelez International (MDLZ) - Get Report and Synder's-Lance (LNCE) are among food companies that have been snapping up snack-food companies over the past two years.
Industry sources say that food and beverage will continue to drive deal activity in the coming months. Justin's Nut Butter, Wallaby Yogurt and Live Better Brands, for example, have been shopping themselves to prospective buyers and investors.
Recent deals include Deerfield, Ill.-based Mondelez's purchase of Schiller Park, Ill.-based Enjoy Life Natural Brand for several times its roughly $40 million in revenue, an industry source told The Deal.
Hershey, based in Hershey, Pa., acquired gourmet meat-snacks company Krave Pure Foods in January for $315 million, which was about nine times Krave's $35 million in revenue, according to an industry source.
Founded by Netzky and Friedman, SkinnyPop delivered its first bag of popcorn for sale to Potash Markets in Lincoln Square in the Chicago area in August 2010.
SkinnyPop is distributed in several thousand stores nationwide, according to reports, and is carried by supermarkets such as Costco (COST) - Get Report, Kroger (KR) - Get Report and Whole Foods Market (WFM) .
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