SAN FRANCISCO — Diamond Foods, Inc. today priced 4.5 million of its shares at a price to the public of $37 per share. The company has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 675,000 additional shares. The offering is scheduled to close on March 10.

Diamond Foods said it plans to use the net proceeds of the offering to pay a portion of the $615 million purchase price for its previously announced acquisition of Kettle Foods from Lion Capital L.L.P. If it is unable to close the Kettle Foods acquisition, Diamond Foods said it intends to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, including repayment of existing indebtedness.


The Kettle Foods transaction is expected to be complete by the end of the year.