Diamond Foods Buys Pringles for $2.3 Billion

by Jason Best, Posted Apr 6th 2011 @ 3:00PM

Pringles Photo: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

How many Pringles does $2.35 billion buy you? Apparently, all of them.

Like the slogan says, it seems like once to folks at Diamond Foods popped open a can, they just couldn't stop until they'd gobbled up the whole darn brand. The company is acquiring Pringles from its previous owner, Procter & Gamble.

As P&G's hometown paper, the Cincinnati Enquirer, reports, the American mega-company that's home to a variety of household name brands has lost its appetite for the food business over the years. Whereas it was once home to a range of grocery-store icons, from Duncan Hines and Jif to Folgers and Sunny Delight, P&G has sold off all of them, opting instead to focus on its less-than-edible brands, like cleaning products and toothpaste.

By selling Pringles, P&G takes itself out of the food business altogether.

Diamond, on the other hand, appears to be looking to build itself into a snack-food king. The company may be best know for its eponymous brand of nuts, but it acquired Pop Secret popcorn in 2008, and last year it bought Kettle brand potato chips.

"Pringles is an iconic, billion-dollar snack brand with significant global manufacturing and supply chain infrastructure," Michael J. Mendes, chief executive of Diamond Foods, said in a statement. "This strategic combination will create an independent, global leader in the snack industry with a focus on quality and innovative products."

So does that mean that Diamond is going to try an out-innovate P&G when it comes to weird Pringles flavors? After all, international varieties of the slim chip already come in everything from Honey Roast Chicken and Funky Mustard to Seaweed and Soft-Shell Crab.

Filed Under: Business, Food News
Tags: diamond food, featured, pringles, proctor and gamble