Specialty food producer McCormick & Co., Inc. (MKC) Wednesday said the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, has issued conditional approval to McCormick's previously announced acquisition of Lawry's from Conopco, Inc., an indirect subsidiary of Unilever NV (UL, ULVR.L) for $604 million in cash.
The conditional approval is subject to a 30-day public comment period, after which the FTC may propose modifications before the approval is made final.
McCormick expects the transaction to be completed on or about July 31, 2008. The terms of the approval require the sale of McCormick's Season-All business. McCormick expects to complete the acquisition of Lawry's and sale of Season-All at the same time.
McCormick said it has reached an agreement to sell its Season-All business to the Morton Salt Group of Morton International for $15 million in cash. McCormick's annual sales of Season-All products are nearly $18 million.
The Lawry's business includes a full line of seasoning blend products as well as wet marinades with annual sales of about $150 million.
Shares of McCormick are currently trading at $40.69, up 76 cents or 1.90%.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com