The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

HNZ acquired for $72.50/sh in cash; the buyers are Berkshire Hathaway and the private-equity firm, 3G:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323478004578303733925078030.html

The buyout price is a 20% premium to yesterday’s close, and the deal has a nominal value of $28B including assumption of debt. Given Buffett’s involvement, there is (IMO) very little chance of a rival or sweetened offer, nor is there much chance of the deal’s falling through. Consequently, HNZ is trading today at very close to the $72.50 buyout price.

The institutional portfolio I manage has about $1.2M of HNZ stock, so this deal is a big deal for me even though I don’t own HNZ in my personal account. It’s also the second time one of the institutional-portfolio’s stocks was acquired by Berkshire—the first time was Burlington Northern railroad.

p.s. 3G is the firm that took Burger King private in 2010.