Quest Sells Company for 1 Billion Dollars!

Quest Nutrition (makers of the low-carb bars, cookies, chips, pizzas, protein powder and more) have sold out! The new owners will be The Simply Good Foods Company - a publicly traded company that owns Atkins and a number of other mass market brands. The deal will be for $1.0 billion dollars. Quest has went through some ups and downs over the years from bars not meeting label claims to laying off 524 staff members, but they’ve made off like bandits with this deal and are going to take the money and run! Quest has always focussed on creating snacks high in protein with minimal sugars and net carbohydrates. The pairing of Atkins and Quest unites well-known brands with combined estimated net sales of over $800 million and strong margins. 

“The acquisition of Quest strengthens Simply Good Foods’ position within the nutritional snacking category by expanding our portfolio of brands and product offerings while also providing us with greater consumer and channel diversification,” said Joseph E. Scalzo, President and Chief Executive Officer of Simply Good Foods. “This combination delivers on our strategy to become a broader nutritional snacking company that offers consumers a broad range of brands and products that satisfy their nutritional needs. We also believe that our collective brands will benefit from increased cross-selling and marketing opportunities, as well as enhanced go-to-market strategies that will drive meaningful net sales and earnings growth. Quest is supported by an innovative spirit and dedicated employees committed to supporting consumers’ healthy lifestyles, and both Quest and our existing brands will benefit from sharing best practices and insights in marketing, distribution and supply chain management to deliver on our commitment to customers and consumers. Upon the closing of the transaction we look forward to working with Dave Ritterbush, President and Chief Executive Officer of Quest, and his team, and welcoming Dave to the Simply Good Foods Board of Directors.” 

“We are excited to join the Simply Good Foods family and I’m personally pleased to be joining the Simply Good Foods Board of Directors upon closing, as we collectively drive the next stage of Quest’s growth,” said Dave Ritterbush, President and CEO of Quest Nutrition. “The Simply Good Foods team has a strong track record in building leading nutrition brands and I feel that Quest will fit perfectly in their overall mission. As part of Simply Good Foods, Quest will benefit from the combination of two great organizations focused on providing consumers with healthier food choices. I’m incredibly proud of everything that Quest and our team has accomplished and excited for the next phase of our growth by joining a larger, more diverse nutritional snacking company.”

Business Reasons Why They Bought Quest 

• Quest’s products - primarily, bars, cookies, chips and pizza - compete in many of the attractive, fast growing snacking categories. Quest has an extremely loyal following and favorable demographic profile with strong appeal among consumers 18-44 years old with almost no overlap with the Atkins consumer.
• Given Quest’s growth trajectory, innovation pipeline and identified cost synergies, the new owners believe there is financial flexibility to continue investing in Quest and expand margins (i.e. make more money).
• This transaction will enable Simply Good Foods to benefit from Quest’s effectiveness within e-commerce, social platforms, specialty and other distribution channels, while Quest will benefit from Simply Good Foods’ expertise in building distribution in FDM (food/drug/mass) channels and growing brand awareness via mass media. 
• They belive they can achieving an estimated $20 million in cost savings by having Quest and their other brands all under one business.
• The strategic acquisition of Quest, which has net sales and Adjusted EBITDA2 of about $345million and $50 million, respectively, provides Simply Good Foods with additional scale and is complementary to the Company’s long-term net sales and adjusted EBITDA growth algorithm. 

SOURCE: Global Wire