THOMASVILLE, GA. — Flowers Foods, Inc. has completed its cash purchase of Tasty Baking Co. for $175 million, which includes a payoff of Tasty debt.
The closing of the transaction, plans for which were first announced by the companies April 11, results in the delisting of Tasty Baking shares on Nasdaq. With the purchase, Tasty has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Flowers and will be integrated into the company’s direct-store delivery segment.
Flowers said the acquisition “creates a larger business with a complementary portfolio of high quality bakery products and deepens Flowers’ penetration of the estimated 44 billion snack cake category.”
“We extend a warm welcome to Tasty’s team members and independent sales distributors,” said George E. Deese, chairman and chief executive officer of Flowers. “Working together we can bring the Tastykake brand to consumers in the South and Southwest and introduce our Nature’s Own soft variety breads through Tasty’s distribution area in the heart of the Northeast Corridor. With the addition of Tasty’s distribution network, Flowers now has access to 61% of the U.S. population through direct-store delivery.”
Mr. Deese said Tastykake production would continue at Tasty Baking’s plants in Philadelphia and Oxford, Pa., “using the same recipes and local ingredients that have created such strong consumer loyalty for the Tastykake brand.”