Packaged foods supplier General Mills (GIS) Wednesday said it agreed to sell its microwave popcorn business, Pop Secret, to California-based food processing company Diamond Foods Inc. (DMND) for about $190 million in cash. General Mills expects net proceeds of $160 million from the sale. The company expects to close the transaction this fall and book the net gains for the fiscal year 2009.
The terms of the purchase agreement requires, Minneapolis, Minnesota-based General Mills to provide certain specific transition services related to the Pop Secret business for up to six months after closing.
Diamond Foods, owner of the Emerald and Diamond snack brands, intends to fund the purchase, in part, with a new credit facility, to be availed concurrently with the acquisition. Diamond Foods expects its earnings for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2009, including the impact of the acquisitions, to be between $1.20 per share and $1.27 per share. On July 23, analysts at Longbow Research had downgraded Diamond Foods (DMND) from 'buy' to 'neutral.'
Pop Secret is a popular brand of popcorn produced by General Mills that was introduced in 1985. It is the No. 2 player in the $900 million U.S. microwave popcorn category with ConAgra's Orville Redenbacher brand at the top.
Different varieties of popcorn are produced under the imprint, including light popcorn, cheddar cheese popcorn, and kettle corn. Pop Secret produced a variety of colored popcorn called Pop Qwiz in the early 1990s, including colors of yellow, blue, green, and a mystery bag with a surprise color. Pop Secret premium microwave popcorn includes products like 1-Step Cheddar, 100 Calorie Pop, HomeStyle and Kettle Corn among the varieties.
The food processing industry has been witnessing a number of consolidations recently. Earlier this month, packaged food company Ralcorp Holdings Inc. (RAH) acquired the Post cereals business from Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) for about $2.6 billion. As a result of the transaction, Kraft expects to adjust its annual earnings downwards by about $0.07 per share.
End July, Soup maker Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) entered into an agreement to sell its Generale Condimentaire business to Sofiproteol subsidiary, Lesieur, in order to enhance the company's presence in the simple meals category. In early July, Campbell acquired the Wolfgang Puck soup business from Country Gourmet Foods and signed a master licensing agreement with Wolfgang Puck Worldwide for using the Wolfgang Puck brand on its soups.
Kellogg Co. (K) in June, said its majority-owned subsidiaries acquired China-based Zhenghang Food Co., a manufacturer of cookies and crackers. Zhenghang's employees, including the management team, were to join Kellogg.
Shares of GIS finished the day's trading up 0.04% at $67.09 and further gained 0.13% to trade at $67.18, on a volume of about 1.97 million shares. The stock has been moving in a range of $51.00 to $67.61 for the past one year, with a three-month average volume of about 2.93 million shares.
DMND ended Wednesday's trading at $26.17, up $0.17 or 0.65%, on a volume of about 69 thousand shares.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.