Firms including Warren Buffett’s to buy Heinz

— H.J. Heinz Co. says it agreed to be acquired by an investment consortium including billionaire investor Warren Buffett in a deal valued at $28 billion.

The ketchup company says Heinz shareholders will receive $72.50 in cash for each share of common stock they own. The deal value includes the assumption of Heinz’s debt.

Based on Heinz’s number of shares outstanding, the deal is worth $23.3 billion, excluding debt.

“It’s our kind of company,” Buffett said in an interview on CNBC, noting its signature ketchup has been around for more than a century. “I’ve sampled it many times.”

In addition to its ketchup, Heinz makes Classico spaghetti sauces, Ore-Ida potatoes and Smart Ones frozen meals. Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital, the investment firm which also bought Burger King in 2010, say Heinz will remain based in Pittsburgh.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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