TreeHouse Foods, Inc. Completes the Sale of McCann's Irish Oatmeal to B&G Foods

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Jul 16, 2018, 16:16 ET

OAK BROOK, Ill., July 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- TreeHouse Foods, Inc. (NYSE: THS) today announced that it has completed the sale of the McCann's Irish Oatmeal brand to B&G Foods for $32 million, subject to customary closing and post-closing adjustments. Sales of the business were approximately $13 million in 2017. The transaction is expected to have a negligible impact on TreeHouse's 2018 earnings.

"McCann's Irish Oatmeal is a wonderful brand that has great opportunity to flourish under B&G Foods' branded food umbrella," said Steve Oakland, CEO and President of TreeHouse Foods. "The divestiture supports our efforts to simplify and streamline our business and concentrate our efforts on private label categories that support our customers' corporate brand initiatives. We expect proceeds from the transaction will be used to pay down debt."

Since the 1800s, McCann's Irish Oatmeal has been warming the hearts, minds and souls of the most discriminating oatmeal lovers. The story of McCann's Irish Oatmeal dates back to 1800 when John McCann built a mill in County Meath to grind the raw oats harvested on Ireland's beautiful east coast. In the early part of the 20th century, exports of McCann's Irish Oatmeal greatly increased, particularly to the United States and Canada, enabling the inhabitants of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, San Francisco, Montreal and Vancouver to enjoy the distinctive, nutty flavor of steel cut Irish oats. In 1964, Odlums Group acquired John McCann's business and transferred production to its own oatmeal mill, which had been in operation since 1910. TreeHouse Foods acquired the McCann's Irish Oatmeal brand through its purchase of Sturm Foods in 2010.

ABOUT TREEHOUSE FOODS

TreeHouse Foods, Inc. is a manufacturer of packaged foods and beverages with a network of over 40 manufacturing facilities across the United States, Canada, and Italy that focuses primarily on private label products for both retail grocery and food away from home customers. We manufacture shelf stable, refrigerated, frozen and fresh products, including beverages and beverage enhancers (single serve beverages, coffees, teas, creamers, powdered beverages, and smoothies); meals (cereal, pasta, macaroni and cheese, and side dishes); retail bakery (refrigerated and frozen dough, cookies, and crackers); condiments (pourable and spoonable dressing, dips, pickles, and sauces) and healthy snacks (nuts, trail mix, bars, dried fruits, and vegetables). We have a comprehensive offering of packaging formats and flavor profiles, and we also offer natural, organic, and preservative free ingredients in many categories. Our strategy is to be the leading supplier of private label food and beverage products by providing the best balance of quality and cost to our customers.

Additional information, including TreeHouse's most recent statements on Forms 10-Q and 10-K, may be found at TreeHouse Foods' website, http://www.treehousefoods.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements and other information are based on our beliefs, as well as assumptions made by us, using information currently available. The words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "project," "expect," "intend," "plan," "should," and similar expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, or intended. We do not intend to update these forward-looking statements following the date of this press release.

Such forward-looking statements, because they relate to future events, are by their very nature subject to many important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements contained in this press release and other public statements we make. Such factors include, but are not limited to: the success of our TreeHouse 2020 restructuring and margin improvement plan, our level of indebtedness and related obligations; disruptions in the financial markets; interest rates; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; customer concentration and consolidation; raw material and commodity costs; competition; integration of the Private Brands acquisition and our ability to continue to make acquisitions in accordance with our business strategy or effectively manage the growth from acquisitions; changes and developments affecting our industry, including customer preferences; the outcome of litigation and regulatory proceedings to which we may be a party; product recalls; changes in laws and regulations applicable to us; our ability to attract, hire, and retain key employees; disruptions in or failures of our information technology systems; labor strikes or work stoppages; and other risks that are set forth in the Risk Factors section, the Legal Proceedings section, the Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations section, and other sections of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, and from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You are cautioned not to unduly rely on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made when evaluating the information presented in this press release. TreeHouse expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein, to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto, or any other change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.

SOURCE TreeHouse Foods, Inc.