Hormel completes acquisition of Sadler’s Smokehouse for $270m

US-based food distributor Hormel Foods has concluded its acquisition of Sadler’s pit-smoked meat business Smokehouse for $270m.

Based in Texas, Sadler’s Smokehouse produces pit-smoked meats for retail and foodservice customers. It has supplied its goods to Hormel Foods for more than two decades.

Smokehouse will continue to operate from its facility in Henderson, Texas.

Hormel Foods brokered a deal to acquire Smokehouse last month. The company will incorporate Smokehouse into its refrigerated foods division.

Hormel Foods board chairman, president and CEO Jim Snee said: “Sadler’s Smokehouse is a great company with an impressive history, talented team and an outstanding portfolio of on-trend products that resonate with consumers, customers and operators.

“This is a very strategic acquisition for our foodservice business and it gives us another successful brand to expand into the retail and deli channels.”

Smokehouse will complement the company’s Fontanini Italian meats and sausages business, which it acquired in August 2017.

The company said it plans to make immediate investments into the business and production facility.

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath served as the company’s legal adviser.

Beard and Harris served as legal adviser and UBS Investment Bank as financial adviser to Sadler.

In August 2018, Hormel Foods signed a definitive agreement to sell its pork processing facility to WholeStone Farms for an undisclosed sum.

The deal also included a multi-year agreement for WholeStone Farms to supply raw pork products to Hormel Foods.