Posted on Thu, Nov. 5, 2009
Utz Quality Foods Inc. has backed out of a proposed sale to Snyder's of Hanover Inc., saying the request for additional information from the Federal Trade Commission would strain the company.
The FTC asked for further details after two filings on the proposed merger failed to gain its approval, the two Hanover, Pa., companies said in a statement yesterday.
"While we were excited by the prospect of merging with Snyder's of Hanover, we knew that participating in another FTC request would put a strain on our company and ultimately distract us," Utz chief executive officer Michael W. Rice said in the statement.
Snyder's does not plan to pursue a deal with Utz in the future, chief executive officer Carl Lee said in an interview.
"The FTC requests became very cumbersome and detail-oriented," Lee said. "We as the buyer were able to comply. The seller chose not to."
The closely held Snyder's announced the deal to buy Utz on Oct. 22, without disclosing terms of the deal. Snyder's makes pretzels and owns the Jays Potato Chips and O-Ke-Doke popcorn brand. It has annual sales of $750 million, while potato-chip-maker Utz has annual sales of more than $400 million, according to a statement.
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