Hormel to acquire Skippy peanut butter line

Hormel Foods Corp. announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Skippy peanut butter business from Unilever United States Inc., of Englewood Cliffs, N.J. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals in the United States and other jurisdictions.

The Skippy peanut butter domestic line consists of 11 varieties of shelf-stable peanut butter products. The brand, first introduced in 1932, holds the No. 2 share in this growing center of the store category and is the leading brand in the faster growing subcategory of natural peanut butter. Peanut butter is a $2 billion category with a 74 percent household penetration and is the second most popular sandwich behind ham in the United States.