Utz Brands , a Pennsylvania-based snack company known for Utz pretzels, Zapp's snacks, and On the Border chips and salsas, has agreed to be taken private in a $2.9 billion transaction with Intersnack Group, a Dusseldorf-based snack producer that has expanded across Europe and Australia through acquisitions. Intersnack will acquire all publicly traded Class A shares for $14.25 each, representing a premium of about 91% to Utz's July 20 closing price. Utz shares climbed 90% on Tuesday and traded near the offer price, giving investors a sharp recovery after the stock had declined over the previous couple of years amid weaker salty-snack demand and concerns about the category.

The transaction will leave Intersnack and entities controlled by the founding Rice and Lissette families each holding 50% of Utz. Intersnack is expected to contribute $920 million in cash, while the deal will also be financed through a $1.1 billion term loan facility and borrowings under a $250 million asset-based lending facility. The families will use rollover equity and proceeds from a $44 million tax-related settlement, and the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter. The acquisition gives Intersnack its first position in the U.S. market and adds a century-old snack business that generated $1.44 billion in revenue last year, with analysts expecting sales to increase by 4% this year.

Barclays, a global financial services company, said the transaction was not entirely unexpected because Utz's management and board had consistently appeared open to strategic alternatives since the company entered public markets through a SPAC transaction in 2020. Analyst Andrew Lazar noted that the more surprising element was the timing, as the agreement followed several years of valuation compression. Investors may view the 91% premium as another indication that established U.S. packaged-food brands can attract strategic buyers after prolonged share-price weakness, while the deal also extends a broader European expansion into the American food market following Ferrero Group, the family-run maker of Nutella, acquiring cereal producer WK Kellogg, and French dairy company Bel Group announcing its acquisition of Ingenuity Foods.