The combined company will have a well-established portfolio of snack food brands that includes Snyder's of Hanover, Lance, Cape Cod, Grande, Tom's, Jays, O-Ke-Doke, Stella D'oro, Krunchers!, [image-nocss] Archway, Naturals as well as Lance Private Brands, a leader in private-label cookies and crackers. Products will include pretzels, sandwich crackers, kettle chips, potato chips, cookies, tortilla chips and nuts. The new company, named Snyder's-Lance Inc., will maintain the stock ticker symbol 'LNCE' with shares traded on the NASDAQ exchange.
Snyder's-Lance will draw on an experienced group of leaders from both companies. Michael A. Warehime, current Snyder's chairman, will serve as chairman of the combined company, and W. J. Prezzano, current Lance chairman, will serve as lead independent director. David V. Singer, current Lance president and CEO, will become CEO of Snyder's-Lance. Carl E. Lee Jr., current Snyder's resident and CEO, will become president and COO, and Rick D. Puckett, current Lance executive vice president and CFO, will become executive vice president and CFO of the combined company.
Snyder's-Lance will have a 14-member board drawn from the existing boards of both companies. It will be comprised of seven directors of the current Lance board and seven directors of the current Snyder's board. The company will have its corporate headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., and additional headquarters in Hanover, Pa., where certain key leaders and functions will continue to be located.
"We are extremely pleased with the opportunity to combine two leading snack food companies in such a strategically compelling merger," said Singer. "Combining our strengths in salty, cracker and cookie snacks creates the opportunity for scale in a number of competitive high volume categories. We will immediately begin the work of bringing our two organizations together in ways that maximize our potential growth and drive lasting value for stockholder, customers, business partners and our employees."
Lee added, "This historic transaction brings together many years of excellence in salty snacks and baking that will create a dynamic and competitive organization able to deliver superior customer service while continuing to be an important part to the communities in which we operate. We expect to drive our business through the strength of nationwide distribution, national advertising, and an excellent portfolio of products and capabilities that consumers prefer. We look forward to our collective success and the exciting times that are to come."
Charlotte-based Lance manufactures and markets snack foods throughout much of the United States and other parts of North America. Its products include sandwich crackers, sandwich cookies, potato chips, crackers, cookies, other snacks, sugar wafers, nuts, restaurant-style crackers and candy. Lance has manufacturing facilities in North Carolina, Iowa, Georgia, Massachusetts, Texas, Florida, Ohio and Ontario, Canada. Products are sold under the Lance, Cape Cod, Tom's, Archway and Stella D'oro brand names along with a number of private label and third party brands. The company's products are distributed through a direct-store-delivery system, a network of independent distributors and direct shipments to customer locations. Products are distributed through grocery and mass merchant stores, convenience stores, club stores, food service outlets and other channels.
Snyder's of Hanover is a privately held company that employs more than 2,250 associates and operates nearly 1,800 distribution routes nationwide. Snyder's of Hanover is headquartered in Hanover, which is the location of its flagship snack food manufacturing and distribution center. This location produces and distributes products to the eastern half of North America, the Caribbean and Europe. The Goodyear, Ariz., plant produces products for the western half of the United States and Pacific Rim countries. The Jeffersonville, Ind., manufacturing facility produces and distributes products primarily for the Midwest and central United States.
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