Diversey Acquired

Sealed Air Corp. and Diversey Holdings, Inc., have announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Sealed Air will acquire Diversey in a transaction valued at $4.3 billion. Diversey provides cleaning, sanitization and hygiene solutions to industrial and retail customers in the food and beverage, food service, health care, and lodging sectors, as well as to building service contractors worldwide. In 2010, it generated net sales of $3.1 billion.

“This transaction represents a strategic growth opportunity that leverages Sealed Air's core competencies and positions our company to further capitalize on the megatrends that drive both businesses,” says President/CEO William Hickey. “With Diversey, we will expand our footprint beyond specialty packaging solutions by gaining entry into a $40+ billion chemical cleaning and hygiene industry that has attractive fundamentals and is already in our value chain.”

AdvancePierre Acquires Barber Foods

AdvancePierre Foods has acquired Barber Foods, a Portland, ME-based supplier of value-added chicken products. Barber's more than 300 frozen products are both raw and fully cooked and feature a wide variety of stuffed chicken breasts ranging from Chicken Cordon Bleu and broccoli & cheese stuffed chicken to chicken stuffed with scallops and lobster.

The company also manufactures an assortment of other frozen chicken products, including chicken nuggets, chicken fingers, and chicken fillets. The Barber brand has a significant presence in retail grocery, club and foodservice.

“The high-quality products, top-notch manufacturing facility and family values of Barber Foods makes it an excellent addition to AdvancePierre,” says AdvancePierre CEO Bill Toler. “We are very enthusiastic about what Barber brings to our existing and future retail, foodservice and convenience business, as well as opportunities to expand our presence through their East Coast location.”

AdvancePierre was formed last October through the merger of Pierre Foods, Advance Food Co. and Advance Brands. It is a leading supplier of value-added protein and handheld convenience products to the foodservice, school, retail, club, vending and convenience store markets.