Utz Brand names to Purchase Vitner’s Snack Food stuff Brand and Distribution Belongings

HANOVER, Pa.–(Small business WIRE)–Jan 11, 2021–

Utz Makes, Inc. (NYSE: UTZ) (“Utz” or the “Company”), a top U.S. company of branded salty snacks, declared that its subsidiary Utz Excellent Meals, LLC (“UQF”) has entered into a definitive settlement with Snak-King Corp. (“Snak King”) to receive specific property similar to the Vitner’s brand (“Vitner’s”), a primary manufacturer of snack food items in the Chicago metropolitan marketplace, for a total order value of $25 million, matter to customary invest in selling price adjustments. The obtained belongings incorporate the mental residence, which include the VITNER’S® trademark, and direct-keep-supply (“DSD”) distribution property connected to Vitner’s branded products. The transaction signifies an acquisition various of about 5.9x previous twelve months ended September 27, 2020 Vitner’s Professional Forma Altered EBITDA of $3.4 million assuming around $5 million in internet existing value from predicted tax belongings resulting from the transaction. Utz expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings in 2021 and beyond. The transaction is subject to customary closing problems and is anticipated to close on February 8 th, 2021.

Vitner’s, established in 1926, is an legendary brand name in the Chicago space and its approximately 55 DSD routes will offer Utz a strengthened foothold in Chicago and the Midwest from which to additional mature the presence of its Electric power Brands, which incorporate Utz ®, On The Border ®, Zapp’s ®, Golden Flake ®, Excellent Health and fitness ®, Boulder Canyon ®, Hawaiian ® Brand, and Tortiyahs! ® (“Power Brands”). Adhering to the acquisition, Vitner’s potato chips, cheese snacks, corn treats and popcorn will move Utz from the #7 situation to the #4 placement between salty snacks in the Chicago current market, the fourth biggest salty snack market place in the U.S. at roughly $688 million in yearly retail product sales for the 52 months ending November 29, 2020 according to IRI. Most of Vitner’s products and solutions are now created by Snak King, but Utz options to transition manufacturing of most of those products to its very own producing plants following closing, even further increasing utilization of Utz’s production community.

“This strategic acquisition will make Utz a much more significant competitor in the Chicago spot. Mixed with our recently declared acquisition of the On the Border ® tortilla chip, salsa and queso brand name, we develop a robust model system to much better provide the main salty snack channels and continue on to extend quickly in this critical progress market. This transaction is a continuation of our approach to efficiently develop prolonged-term price and share by increasing in major metropolitan places, like we did in New York Town in 1994, Boston in 2004, Pittsburgh in 2006 and Atlanta in 2011,” claimed Dylan Lissette, CEO of Utz. “This acquisition strengthens our competitive posture and will be a spark for ongoing expansion in the Midwest. We are self-confident this transaction will generate lengthy-phrase value creation for our shareholders and assistance posture Utz for ongoing prolonged-time period growth.”

“We are thrilled to see the Vitner’s model, proven practically 95 a long time back, come to be section of the Utz Makes, Inc. platform,” explained Barry Levin, CEO of Snak King. “Utz will be in a position to leverage its entire world-course household of brand names and experience in DSD operations to enable Vitner’s proceed to provide the Chicago market.”

Strategic Rationale

The Chicago market is the fourth greatest salty snack market in the U.S. with about $688 million in once-a-year retail profits, and it grew somewhere around 9% for the past 52 weeks ended November 29, 2020 in accordance to IRI. Vitner’s 55 DSD routes give an effective, instant route to market to additional mature Utz’s Electricity Manufacturers in the grocery, drug, and up-and-down the street channels in the Chicago metropolitan and Northwest Indiana spots. The transaction is complementary to (i) Utz’s existing key Chicago route to market established in partnership with a 3rd party distributor spouse that principally focuses on huge grocery keep chains and (ii) Utz’s acquisition of Kitchen Cooked and its Central Illinois to Jap Iowa-centered distribution property in December of 2019. The addition of Vitner’s potato chips, cheese snacks, corn snacks and popcorn, combined with Utz’s just lately-announced acquisition of the On the Border ® tortilla chip, salsa, and queso brand, would make improvements to Utz’s share of the $1 billion retail profits Illinois salty snack sector to 4% for the final 52 weeks finished November 29, 2020 according to IRI, up 5-fold because the end of calendar 12 months 2016. Raising Utz’s gross sales in the big and expanding Chicago space is an vital action to capture the upcoming growth opportunity in the Midwest.

Persuasive Financial Benefits

Vitner’s generated web sales of $25. million and Vitner’s Professional Forma Altered EBITDA of $3.4 million for the previous twelve months finished September 27, 2020. The acquisition will present a platform from which to raise the product sales of Utz’s Power Brand names, and it will increase the utilization inside Utz’s manufacturing community by transitioning manufacturing of most Vitner’s solutions into Utz’s vegetation around a transition period. In addition, Utz expects to receive a tax foundation step up from the acquisition of intellectual property affiliated with the VITNER’S® trademark with an approximated net existing value of about $5 million. The transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings in 2021 and beyond.

Transaction Information

Under the terms of the transaction settlement, Vitner’s assets will be obtained by UQF. The Organization expects to use money on its stability sheet to fund the transaction. The transaction does not have a meaningful effect to Utz’s internet leverage ratio.

The Organization has posted presentation slides that are out there now on Utz’s Trader Relations web page.

Advisors

Cozen O’Connor is serving as authorized counsel to Utz Manufacturers, Inc. Sheppard Mullin is performing as legal counsel to Snak King.

About Utz Manufacturers, Inc.

Utz manufactures a assorted portfolio of savory snacks under well known makes together with Utz ®, On The Border ®, Zapp’s ®, Golden Flake ®, Good Health ®, Boulder Canyon ®, Hawaiian ® Brand name, and Tortiyahs! ® between many others.

After approximately a century with solid family members heritage, Utz continues to have a enthusiasm for remarkable and delighting shoppers with delicious snack food items built from top rated-top quality ingredients. Utz’s products are dispersed nationally and internationally by means of grocery, mass merchant, club, convenience, drug and other channels. Centered in Hanover, Pennsylvania, Utz operates fourteen amenities found in Pennsylvania, Alabama, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Washington, and Massachusetts. For extra data, be sure to go to www.utzsnacks.com or connect with 1‐800‐FOR‐SNAX.

About Snak King

Snak King, founded in 1978, is one of the greatest impartial snack food companies in the United States. With services in City of Marketplace, CA, and Freeport IL, the organization products and services the countrywide and worldwide marketplace from 700,000 sq. feet of SQF Stage 3 operations. Snak King has deep abilities in the natural and organic, kosher, Hispanic and conventional snack marketplaces, and sells below The Total Earth, El Sabroso, Granny Goose, Jensen’s Orchard and Snak King brand names. The enterprise is also a chief in furnishing non-public-label and co-made products for some of the major food businesses in the earth. Manufacturing abilities contain potato chips, tortilla chips, popcorn, kettle corn, caramel corn, extruded treats (cheese puffs, cheese curls, nuggets), veggie chips, pop crisps, pork rinds and cracklins, as perfectly as a entire giving of nut clusters, peanut and tree nut mixes, and specialty blends. For much more information and facts pay a visit to www.snakking.com or get in touch with 800-748-5566.

About Non-GAAP Fiscal Actions and Goods Impacting Comparability

“Adjusted EBITDA” is outlined as EBITDA even more modified to exclude particular non-hard cash items, such as stock-based payment, hedging and buy commitments changes, and asset impairments acquisition and integration prices organization transformation initiatives and financing-linked charges. Adjusted EBITDA is a single of the vital general performance indicators we use in evaluating our working performance and in earning money, operating, and setting up choices. We feel Adjusted EBITDA is helpful to the end users of this press launch and monetary data contained in this push release is helpful in the analysis of Utz’s working effectiveness when compared to other corporations in the salty snack sector, as equivalent actions are commonly utilized by businesses in this marketplace. We have traditionally noted an Modified EBITDA metric to investors and financial institutions for covenant compliance. “Vitner’s Altered EBITDA” is outlined as Adjusted EBITDA as provided by Snak King management, reflecting prices allocated to Vitner’s by Snak King. “Vitner’s Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA” is described as Vitner’s Altered EBITDA additional altered to involve estimated operate-level price tag of items offered, advertising and administrative charge synergies and dis-synergies when completely integrated into Utz. We think Vitner’s Adjusted EBITDA and Vitner’s Pro Forma Altered EBITDA are useful to the people of this launch and economic data contained in this launch is helpful to examine the approximated contribution of the Vitner’s acquisition to our Altered EBITDA and to review to other organizations in the salty snack marketplace, as related actions are commonly utilised by providers in this business. “EBITDA” is described as Net Cash flow ahead of Desire, Money Taxes, and Depreciation and Amortization.

A non-GAAP economic evaluate is a numerical evaluate of money effectiveness that excludes or features quantities so as to be unique than the most instantly equivalent measure calculated and presented in accordance with usually accepted accounting concepts in the United States (GAAP). Utz believes that the non-GAAP fiscal measures are meaningful to traders for the reason that they maximize transparency and assist traders to have an understanding of and analyze our ongoing operational general performance. The fiscal actions are revealed as supplemental disclosures in this release mainly because they are widely made use of by the investment local community for evaluation and comparative evaluation. They also present additional metrics to examine Utz’s operations and, when viewed as with the GAAP benefits, present a more complete being familiar with of Utz’s business than could be received absent this disclosure. These non-GAAP steps are not and need to not be thought of an alternate to the most equivalent GAAP actions or any other figure calculated in accordance with GAAP, or as an indicator of functioning overall performance. Utz’s calculation of the non-GAAP fiscal measures might vary from strategies utilised by other businesses. Utz’s management believes that the non-GAAP actions are essential to getting an comprehending of Utz’s all round functioning success or those people of Vitner’s in the periods offered. The non-GAAP money measures are not identified in accordance with GAAP and should not be viewed as an choice to GAAP steps of effectiveness. As new occasions or conditions come up, these definitions could transform.

Forward-Searching Statements

This press release involves “forward-seeking statements” inside the that means of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Non-public Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The ahead-seeking statements contained in this push launch consist of, without the need of limitation, statements associated to the prepared acquisition of Vitner’s and the timing and funding thereof the envisioned effects of the planned acquisition, such as with no limitation, the anticipated effect on Utz’s overall current market placement, the retail gross sales on a blended basis bundled in the launch (which believe the Vitner’s transaction has closed), mentioned effects to goal internet leverage incorporated in the release and the anticipated tax advantages of the acquisition. Utz’s real success may differ from its expectations, estimates and projections and therefore, you ought to not depend on these forward-hunting statements as predictions of long term events. Phrases this sort of as “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “budget,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “believes,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” and identical expressions are intended to detect such ahead-looking statements. Also we make statements that assumes the Vitner’s transaction has closed, people statements must also be noticed as forward-wanting. These forward-on the lookout statements involve, with no limitation, Utz’s expectations with regard to long run efficiency. These forward-looking statements contain substantial pitfalls and uncertainties that could trigger the genuine outcomes to differ materially from the envisioned success. Most of these factors are outdoors Utz’s regulate and are tough to predict. Components that may possibly trigger such distinctions incorporate, but are not restricted to: whether or not and when the closing situations will be pleased and whether or not and when the acquisition will near, whether and when Utz will be able to notice the envisioned monetary final results and accretive effect of the acquisition, and how customers, competition, suppliers and employees will respond to the acquisition the hazard that the lately accomplished company combos with Collier Creek Holdings and Truco Holdco, Inc. disrupt plans and functions the means to recognize the expected gains of such business mixtures, which might be affected by, among the other factors, competitiveness and the capacity of Utz to develop and take care of development profitably and retain its important personnel the final result of any authorized proceedings that could be instituted from Utz next the consummation of these kinds of organization combinations variations in relevant regulation or rules charges linked to the business mixtures the incapacity of Utz to preserve the listing of Utz’s Class A Common Inventory and public warrants on the New York Stock Exchange the incapacity of Utz to produce and sustain successful internal controls the chance that Utz’s gross earnings margins may well be adversely impacted by a assortment of components, such as versions in uncooked resources pricing, retail customer necessities and combine, product sales velocities and expected promotional guidance changes in consumers’ loyalty to the Company’s makes due to components further than Utz’s control variations in demand for Utz’s goods influenced by modifications in client tastes and tastes or if Utz is unable to innovate or sector its goods effectively expenses related with setting up brand name loyalty and fascination in Utz’s items, which may possibly be influenced by Utz’s competitors’ actions that outcome in Utz’s merchandise not suitably differentiated from the products and solutions of competitors fluctuations in success of operations of Utz from quarter to quarter simply because of alterations in marketing routines the chance that Utz may well be adversely influenced by other financial, company or competitive things and other dangers and uncertainties set forth in the segment entitled “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Seeking Statements” in Utz’s Quarterly Report on Variety 10-Q submitted with the U.S. Securities and Trade Commission on November 5, 2020. Some of these hazards and uncertainties may possibly in the potential be amplified by the COVID-19 outbreak and there might be added dangers that Utz considers immaterial or which are unknown. It is not possible to forecast or establish all these risks. Utz cautions that the foregoing listing of variables is not unique. Utz cautions visitors not to place undue reliance upon any ahead-looking statements, which talk only as of the day produced. Utz does not undertake or settle for any obligation or enterprise to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to replicate any improve in its anticipations or any improve in activities, ailments or circumstances on which any these statement is primarily based, besides as if not required by law.

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Get hold of: Media Contacts

Marie Espinel, Katie Lewis or Hannah Arnold

The LAKPR Team

[email protected],[email protected]@lakpr.comInvestor Speak to

Kevin Powers

Utz Makes, Inc.

[email protected]

704-451-2628

Key phrase: PENNSYLVANIA UNITED STATES NORTH America

Marketplace Search phrase: Food items/BEVERAGE RETAIL

Resource: Utz Brand names, Inc.