Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:DMND) ("Diamond") today announced that
it has acquired a 26% stake in Metcalfe’s skinny Limited, owner of
Metcalfe’s skinny Popcorn, a premium ready-to-eat popcorn brand in
the UK with a mission to provide better-for-you snack alternatives
to consumers.
Metcalfe’s skinny markets its branded range of
products in the fast-growing better-for-you snack and popcorn
categories, predominantly in the UK. The Metcalfe’s skinny existing
management team will continue to operate the company as an
independent subsidiary.
"We are very excited to acquire an interest in
Metcalfe’s skinny, which is an incredibly innovative, fast-growing,
premium brand appealing to 'foodie' consumers looking for lighter
great tasting snacks,” said Ashley Hicks, Managing Director of
KETTLE® Chips UK. “We look forward to working with the management
team to support their future growth ambitions in the on-trend, high
growth popcorn snack category in the U.K."
Julian Metcalfe and Robert Jakobi, co-founders
of Metcalfe’s skinny commented, “We are very excited about the
opportunity to expand Metcalfe’s skinny brand with the support and
expertise of the KETTLE® organization."
Diamond is financing the investment through cash
on-hand.
About Diamond Foods
We are a snack food and culinary nut company focused on making
innovative, convenient and delicious snacks as well as culinary
nuts true to our 100-year plus heritage. We sell our products under
five different widely-recognized brand names: Diamond of
California®, Kettle Brand® and KETTLE® Chips, Emerald® and Pop
Secret®. Our mission is to honor nature's ingredients by making
food that people love. We are proud of our offerings, many of
which are non-GMO Project verified and free of artificial flavors
and preservatives, and we are committed to making great tasting
products for our consumers. Diamond's products are distributed in a
wide range of stores where snacks and culinary nuts are sold. For
more information, visit the Company's corporate web site:
http://www.diamondfoods.com.
About Metcalfe’s skinny Limited
Metcalfe’s skinny is on a mission to create a range of delicious
and better-for-you snacks made with top quality ingredients,
limitless love and care.
As the co-Founder of Pret A Manger and itsu, Julian Metcalfe is
obsessed with delicious and healthy food. Back in 2009 he was fed
up of stodgy snacks and wanted to create something that was lighter
yet still tasty to replace unhealthier snacks. Metcalfe’s skinny
was born and is now one of the most loved popcorn brands in the UK.
The full range comprises Metcalfe’s skinny Popcorn, Metcalfe’s
skinny Popcorn Crisps, Metcalfe’s skinny Popcorn Thins and
Metcalfe’s skinny Ricecakes.
For more information, please
visit www.metcalfesskinny.com
Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
The foregoing paragraphs contain forward-looking statements that
involve estimates, assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Any
statements about expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives,
assumptions or future events or performance are not historical
facts and may be forward-looking. Words or phrases such as
“anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,”
“intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “projects,” “may,” “will,”
“should,” “continue,” “ongoing,” “future,” “potential” and similar
words or phrases identify forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements in this document address a variety of
subjects including, for example, the potential benefits of the
acquisition of a stake in Metcalfe Skinny Limited and the future
operation of Metcalfe Skinny Limited. Forward-looking statements
involve estimates, assumptions, risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in
the forward-looking statements. The following factors, among
others, could cause actual results to differ materially from the
forward-looking statements: failure to achieve the anticipated
benefits of the transaction; unexpected consequences of the
acquisition of the stake in Metcalfe Skinny Limited, increasing
competition, competitive dynamics in the consumer foods industry
and the markets for our and Metcalfe Skinny Limited’s products,
including new product introductions, advertising activities,
pricing actions and promotional activities of competitors, consumer
acceptance of new products and product improvements, changes in the
legal and regulatory environment, including labeling and
advertising regulations and litigation, product quality and safety
issues, changes in consumer preferences, demands, behavior and
trends, consolidation in the retail environment, political changes
in the UK and other European countries and other events that may
adversely impact the transaction, including industry or economic
conditions outside of the control of Snyder’s-Lance or Diamond
Foods. In addition, actual results are subject to other risks and
uncertainties that relate more broadly to Snyder’s-Lance or Diamond
Foods’ overall business, including those more fully described in
Snyder’s-Lance filings with the SEC including its annual report on
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2015, and its
most recent quarterly report filed on Form 10-Q for the quarter
year ended October 3, 2015, and those more fully described in
Diamond Foods’ filings with the SEC, including its annual report on
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2015, as amended,
and its most recent quarterly report filed on Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended October 31, 2015. We do not undertake any
obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events
or circumstances occurring after the date of this press
release.
Additional Information and Where to Find it
In connection with the proposed transaction between Diamond
Foods, Inc. ("Diamond Foods") and Snyder's-Lance, Inc.
("Snyder's-Lance"), Snyder's-Lance filed a registration statement
on Form S-4 with the SEC on November 25, 2015 and an amendment to
such registration statement on December 23, 2015 (collectively, the
"Registration Statement"), which includes a joint proxy
statement/prospectus and relevant materials concerning the proposed
transaction relating to the solicitation of proxies to vote at the
respective special meeting of stockholders of Diamond Foods and
Snyder's-Lance to approve the proposed transaction. The definitive
proxy statement will be mailed to the stockholders of the Company
in advance of the special meeting. STOCKHOLDERS OF DIAMOND FOODS
AND SNYDER'S-LANCE ARE URGED TO READ ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED
WITH THE SEC, INCLUDING THE DEFINITIVE JOINT PROXY
STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT
INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Investors and security
holders will be able to obtain the documents free of charge at the
SEC's web site, http://www.sec.gov. Documents will also be
available for free from Diamond Foods at
www.diamondfoods.com and from Snyder's-Lance's at
www.snyderslance.com.
Diamond Foods, Snyder's-Lance and their respective directors and
executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the
solicitation of proxies with respect of the proposed transaction.
Information about the directors and executive officers of Diamond
Foods, including their holdings of securities of Diamond Foods, is
set forth in the joint proxy statement/prospectus included in the
Registration Statement and in the Diamond Foods Amendment No. 1 to
Annual Report on Form 10-K that was filed with the SEC on November
24, 2015. Information about the directors and executive officers of
Snyder's-Lance is set forth in the joint proxy statement/prospectus
included in the Registration Statement and the proxy statement for
Snyder's-Lance's 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which was
filed with the SEC on April 1, 2015 and its Current Report on Form
8-K filed with the SEC on October 1, 2015. Investors may obtain
additional information regarding the interests of such participants
by reading the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus
regarding the proposed merger when it becomes available. These
documents can be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated
above.
Investors:
ICR
Katie Turner
415-230-7952
Media:
ICR
Anton Nicholas/Jessica Liddell
415-445-7431
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