990354 B&G Foods' Purchase of Heritage Brands Finalized

Roseland, NJ - B&G Foods, Inc. announced that it has completed the acquisition of six brands (the Heritage brands) from The Pillsbury Company. The brands involved in the acquisition include B&M(r) Baked Beans, Ac'cent(r) and Sa-son Ac'cent(r) flavor enhancers, Underwood(r) meat spreads, Las Palmas(r) authentic Mexican foods, and Joan of Arc(r) canned beans. B&G gains worldwide rights to all of the brands with the exception of Underwood meat spreads in Venezuela. These brands join the growing number of brands managed by B&G, including Regina(r) wine vinegars, Brer Rabbit(r) molasses, Trappey(r) peppers, Red Devil(r) hot sauces, Vermont Maid(r) syrup, Maple Grove Farms(r) syrups and salad dressings and Polaner(r) preserves and All-Fruit(r) products.

David L. Wenner, President and Chief Executive Officer of B&G, stated, “This acquisition is a continuation of our strategy of acquiring smaller, non-core brands from large companies and applying focused sales and marketing efforts against them. These are all excellent brands with leadership positions in their markets. With this acquisition and the recent Polaner(r) acquisition our company has essentially doubled its size within six weeks, and has made great strides toward becoming a significant national presence in the grocery trade. Our expertise with smaller brands, combined with this growing significance in the trade, should serve these particular brands well.” The acquisition includes the B&M manufacturing facility in Portland, Maine and the production lines for Ac'cent(r) and Sa-son Ac'cent(r) and Underwood(r) now located in Pillsbury's Hannibal, Missouri facility. Pillsbury will continue to sell and distribute the brands for B&G during a brief transition period. Production will also continue at the Hannibal facility until B&G is able to relocate manufacturing.

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