HORMEL FOODS ANNOUNCES MINORITY INVESTMENT IN GARUDAFOOD

News provided by

Dec 15, 2022, 21:02 ET

Investment supports the company's strategy to aggressively develop its global presence

AUSTIN, Minn., Dec. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL), a Fortune 500 global branded food company, today announced it has acquired a minority stake in PT Garudafood Putra Putri Jaya Tbk ("Garudafood"), one of the largest food and beverage companies in Indonesia.

"This strategic investment enhances our partnership with Garudafood, which has been instrumental in helping us expand our business into Indonesia and Southeast Asia," said Jim Snee, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer at Hormel Foods. "Garudafood is a market leader, with strong and reputable brands, local expertise and a best-in-class distribution network. We look forward to accelerating our presence in these high-growth geographies and the snacking and entertaining category as we further leverage the strengths and capabilities of both companies."

Garudafood's branded portfolio includes many leading snacking products, such as Garuda peanut snacks, Gery biscuits and confectionary products, and Chocolatos wafer sticks.

"We are very excited to continue expanding and strengthening our partnership with Hormel Foods to grow Garudafood's business together in Indonesia," said Hardianto Atmadja, president director of PT Garudafood Putra Putri Jaya Tbk. "Hormel Foods has more than 130 years of company history, so there are many things that we can learn from them. We also find that there are similarities in our company cultures and values, which are very important for a long-term partnership. There are some potential synergies and growth opportunities that we have identified, such as combining the strengths and expertise of Hormel Foods with our presence and local market knowledge."

"This has been a successful partnership between the Soenjoto family, the strong management team at Garudafood and CVC," said Andy Purwohardono, partner at CVC, which sold a significant portion of the shares acquired by Hormel Foods. "I would like to congratulate the leadership team for building resilience and growing the business profitably during the pandemic, as well as continuing its track record of launching new innovative products. Hormel Foods is the perfect partner for Garudafood, and I wish them a great success for the future."

Hormel Foods purchased approximately 29% of the shares of Garudafood from CVC and other shareholders. The transaction closed during Indonesia Stock Exchange trading hours on Dec. 15, 2022.

Barclays was the exclusive financial adviser to Hormel Foods, and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP served as legal counsel. BofA Securities was the exclusive financial adviser to CVC, and White & Case LLP served as legal counsel.

ABOUT HORMEL FOODS — Inspired People. Inspired Food.™

Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $12 billion in annual revenue across more than 80 countries worldwide. Its brands include Planters^® , SKIPPY^®, SPAM^®, Hormel^® Natural Choice^®, Applegate^®, Justin's^®, WHOLLY^®, Hormel^® Black Label^®, Columbus^®, Jennie-O^® and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named on the "Global 2000 World's Best Employers" list by Forbes magazine for three years, is one of Fortune magazine's most admired companies, has appeared on the "100 Best Corporate Citizens" list by 3BL Media 13 times, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. The company lives by its purpose statement — Inspired People. Inspired Food.™ — to bring some of the world's most trusted and iconic brands to tables across the globe. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com.

ABOUT GARUDAFOOD

PT Garudafood Putra Putri Jaya Tbk (IDX: GOOD) is one of the largest food and beverage companies in Indonesia. Founded in 1990, Garudafood's business operations have been established since 1979 by the founder of the company through PT Tudung Putra Jaya (TPJ), a company in Pati, Central Java, which markets peanut products which became known as Garuda Peanut. Currently, Garudafood produces and markets food and beverage products under six leading brands, namely Garuda, Gery, Chocolatos, Clevo, Prochiz and TopChiz. Its products include biscuits, nuts, pilus, pellet snacks, confectionery, milk drinks, chocolate powder, cheese and mayonnaise. Garudafood exports its products to more than 20 countries, focusing on ASEAN countries, China and India. Most of Garudafood's products are made in its own production facilities. Garudafood currently manages two production facilities in Pati, Central Java, one production facility in Gresik, East Java, one production facility in the Rancaekek Industrial Area, Sumedang, West Java, and one production facility in Cikarang, West Java. All Garudafood products have obtained Halal certification and ISO 22000: Food Safety Management System.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains "forward-looking" information within the meaning of the federal securities laws. The "forward-looking" information may include statements concerning the Company's outlook for the future as well as other statements of beliefs, future plans, strategies, or anticipated events and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Words or phrases such as "should result," "believe," "intend," "plan," "are expected to," "targeted," "will continue," "will approximate," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project," or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical earnings and those anticipated or projected, which factors include, but are not limited to, risks related to the deterioration of economic conditions; the COVID-19 pandemic; risks associated with acquisitions and divestitures; potential disruption of operations including at co-manufacturers, suppliers, logistics providers, customers, or other third party service providers; risk of loss of a material contract; the Company's inability to protect information technology systems against, or effectively respond to, cyber attacks or security breaches; deterioration of labor relations, labor availability or increases to labor costs; general risks of the food industry, including food contamination; outbreaks of disease among livestock and poultry flocks; fluctuations in commodity prices and availability of raw materials and other inputs; fluctuations in market demand for the Company's products; damage to the Company's reputation or brand image; climate change, or legal, regulatory, or market measures to address climate change; risks of litigation; potential sanctions and compliance costs arising from government regulation; compliance with stringent environmental regulation and potential environmental litigation; and risks arising from the Company's foreign operations. Please refer to the cautionary statements regarding "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Statements" that appear in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, which can be accessed at www.hormelfoods.com in the "Investors" section, for additional information. In making these statements, the Company is not undertaking, and specifically declines to undertake, any obligation to address or update each or any factor in future filings or communications regarding the Company's business or results, and is not undertaking to address how any of these factors may have caused changes to discussions or information contained in previous filings or communications. Though the Company has attempted to list comprehensively these important cautionary risk factors, the Company wishes to caution investors and others that other factors may in the future prove to be important in affecting the Company's business or results of operations. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which represent current views as of the date made.