TreeHouse Affirms 2015 Guidance; To Buy ConAgra Foods' Private Brands Operations

(RTTNews) - TreeHouse Foods (THS) announced the company expects to report third-quarter earnings per share of $0.64-$0.65 compared to $0.47 per share reported for the third quarter of last year. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share in the third quarter are expected to total $0.85-$0.86 compared to $0.89 in the prior year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report profit per share of $0.82 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company pre-announced sales of $799 million, compared to sales of $796 million in the third quarter of 2014. Analysts expected revenue of $842.12 million for the quarter.

TreeHouse reaffirmed its guidance for the full year 2015 of $3.00-$3.15 in adjusted earnings per share.

Separately, the company announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire ConAgra Foods' private brands operations. The deal is valued at $2.7 billion. The purchase price is expected to be funded by a combination of $1.8 billion in new debt issuance and approximately $1.0 billion in equity stock issuance. TreeHouse said the acquisition will meaningfully expand its presence in private label dry and refrigerated grocery.

TreeHouse expects the transaction to be dilutive by $0.20-$0.35 in adjusted earnings per share in year one, to contribute $0.55-$0.70 in year two and to be accretive by $1.50-$1.65 in year three. The closing of the transaction is anticipated in the first quarter of 2016.