Whole Earth Brands: Hits record high on $180 mln deal to buy rival

Whole Earth Brands

17/12/2020 19:22

** Shares of sweetener maker  FREE.O  rise as much as 6.8%
to a record high of $11.41
    ** Whole Earth says it will buy WSO Investments, holding
company for organic sweetener brand Wholesome Sweeteners, for an
initial purchase price of $180 mln in cash  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nBwbJlY5Sa
    ** Says deal, which is likely to close during FREE's Q1, is
expected to be immediately accretive to earnings
    ** FREE notes Wholesome's retail sales increased about 52%
over the 52-week period ending Nov 1 
    ** FREE shares, last up 4.2%, have gained about 2% from
their opening price on June 25
    ** Act II Global Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition
company, combined with Merisant Co and MAFCO Worldwide to create
Whole Earth Brands on June 25  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2E211H

 (Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru)
 ((Praveen.Paramasivam@thomsonreuters.com))