Thai Union to Buy Bumble Bee

Published on Friday, 19 December 2014 04:23

Thai Union Frozen Products agreed to acquire Bumble Bee Seafoods from its private-equity owner for $1.51 billion.

Thai Union, which owns Bumble Bee’s competitor Chicken of the Sea, entered a binding agreement to buy all of the San Diego-based company’s shares from Lion Capital LLP, Bumble Bee said in a statement. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2015 and is subject to US antitrust approval, according to the statement.

The acquisition by Bangkok-based Thai Union would create the world’s largest branded shelf-stable seafood company, Bumble Bee said. The transaction is valued at approximately 8.6 times this year’s estimated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, according to the statement.

Earlier reports suggested that Bumble Bee attracted bids from companies including Mitsubishi and Post Holdings.

Lion Capital acquired Bumble Bee, which was founded in 1899, from Centre Partners Management LLC in 2010 for $980 million.