Georgia’s Flowers Foods purchased Tasty Baking Co., a 97-year-old Philadelphia staple, Monday, orchestrating a deal that will total more than $165 million. A baked goods manufacturer, Flowers bought the struggling enterprise for $4 a share. Tasty’s outstanding 8.6 million shares bring the acquisition’s tag to $34.4 million, with more than $131 million in debt accounting for the transaction’s sum.
The agreement will make Tasty part of its partner’s direct-store-delivery business and extend its long-lauded line of products to the Southeast and Southwest parts of the country. The sale, which should close sometime during the year’s second quarter, will likely not mean any reduction in Tasty’s 740-employee workforce or 413-member roster of independent sales distributors, Flowers’ chairman and CEO George Deese said in a press release. It also will keep open Tasty’s plants in Chester County and the 11-month-old facility at 3 Crescent Dr. in The Philadelphia Navy Yard.
“This merger with Flowers will create value for Tasty’s shareholders, employees and the Philadelphia community,” Tasty’s CEO Charles P. Pizzi said in a news release. “We believe the combination of Tasty with Flowers will create a company with long-term advantages for our employees, customers, suppliers, independent sales distributors and other constituents.”
