The Supply Side: Heinz tender, Pinnacle refinance

• Shareholders approve Heinz sale
During an April 30 meeting, a majority of H.J. Heinz Co. shareholders voted in favor of the February-announced acquisition of Heinz by an investment consortium comprised of Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital.

“The board and I want to thank our shareholders for approving this historic merger agreement,” said William R. Johnson, chairman, president and CEO of Heinz.

“When this transaction was announced on Feb. 14, I said that it would provide tremendous value to Heinz shareholders. With today’s convincing vote, Heinz shareholders have confirmed their support for this extraordinary transaction and its record valuation of Heinz.”

The transaction, valued at $28 billion, including the assumption of outstanding debt, is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2013.

At the closing of the transaction, shareholders will receive $72.50 in cash for each share of common stock they own.     

Heinz has a large sales office in Rogers and is a long-time supplier to Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

• Pinnacle Foods debt refinance complete
Pinnacle Foods Inc., has completed its debt refinancing, a move that will save the firm some $30 million annually in interest expense, according to a press release from the food supplier on Monday (April 29).

“The refinancing we just completed builds on the success of our recent I.P.O. and the refinancing actions we took last year,” said Craig Steeneck, chief financial officer of Pinnacle Foods.

“These transactions, taken together, will dramatically lower our annual interest expense and greatly improve our debt maturity profile. We are pleased with the ongoing support from our banking partners and debt holders, and we believe the enhanced financial flexibility and improvement in our already-strong free cash flow that these transactions have enabled will serve us well for the future.”

The debt restructure includes a $1.630 million term loan due 2020, a $150 million revolving credit facility due 2018 and a $350 million aggregate principal amount of 4.875% senior unsecured notes due 2021.

The company plans to use the proceeds from the new term loan and senior unsecured notes to repay its existing term loan and complete the planned redemption on May 10, 2013, of all $400 million outstanding principal amount of its 8.25% senior unsecured notes due 2017 as well as to pay for all fees relate to the refinancing.

There are one-time fees and expenses associated with the transaction are expected to cost roughly $52 million.

Pinnacle Foods is a supplier to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and has a manufacturing plant in Fayetteville and a sales office in Bentonville.