Pinnacle Lets Hillshire Off the Hook

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Published on July 1 2014 5:10 am
Last Updated on July 1 2014 9:24 am
Written by Greg Sapp

Hillshire Brands is off the hook with Pinnacle Foods.

Pinnacle, which has plants in St. Elmo and Mattoon and storage facilities in Effingham, has agreed to let Hillshire, the maker of Ball Park hot dogs and other product lines, out of a sales agreement, reports USA Today.

Hillshire had agreed to buy Pinnacle for $4.23 billion in May before a bidding war broke out for Hillshire among Tyson Foods and Pilgrim's Pride. Tyson Foods won the Hillshire fight with a $7.75 billion buyout offer.

As part of the breakup with Pinnacle, Hillshire will pay a $163 million fee, which Pinnacle said it will use to pay down debt.