US: Cape Cod Potato Chip’s parent company sold in billion-dollar deal

Campbell Soup Co. announced on Monday it will buy Snyder’s-Lance Inc., the Charlotte-based parent company of Cape Cod Potato Chips, in an all-cash deal valued at $4.87 billion. The well-known Hyannis-based brand got its start in 1980, when the founders set up a small shop in a storefront in the Cape town. Lance Inc. acquired Cape Cod Potato Chips in 1999. Terms of the deal were not disclosed at the time, although at the time of the acquisition sales at Cape Cod were about $30 million. Lance merged with Pennsylvania-based Snyder’s of Hanover in 2010. Snyder’s-Lance, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, makes pretzels, chips. It’s most well-known brands include Snyder’s of Hanover, Kettle Brand and Pop Secret, in addition to Cape Cod Potato Chips. It will join the Campbell’s division that makes Pepperidge Farm and Goldfish crackers. There was no immediate word on whether the new owners would keep the chip-maker’s base of operations on Cape Cod. More