The company was founded in 1998 as Vlasic Foods International, acquiring the SwansonTV dinners, Open Pit and Vlasic Pickles brands from the Campbell Soup Company. In 2007, Pinnacle Foods was acquired by the Blackstone Group, a New York City-based private equity firm. In 2013, Pinnacle Foods' Parsippany office was named Inc. Magazine's "World's Coolest Office." That year, Pinnacle Foods had its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, raising approximately $580 million for its owners, the private equity Blackstone Group. Shares began trading under the ticker symbol PF on April 4 at the upper range of its offering, $20 per share, thereby valuing Pinnacle Foods with a market capitalization of $2.3 billion. In May 2014, Hillshire Brands announced it was buying Pinnacle Foods for $4.23 billion in a cash and stock deal. Hillshire Brands' portfolio includes Jimmy Dean, Ball Park, and Sara Lee. But on June 30, 2014, it was announced that Pinnacle Foods had scrapped its sale to Hillshire Brands, which would allow Hillshire Brands to be acquired by Tyson Foods. Pinnacle was to receive a $163 million payment as part of the breakup from Hillshire, and also receive an expected $25 million in one-time costs connected to the scotched sale. In March 2016, it was announced that CEO Robert Gamgort would be leaving Pinnacle Foods to be the new CEO of Keurig Green Mountain. Mark A. Clouse, formerly of Mondelēz, succeeded Gamgort as CEO of the company. In June 2018, Conagra announced it would acquire Pinnacle Foods for $8.1 billion. The sale was completed on October 26, 2018 and the company was delisted in the NYSE.
Other acquisitions
In March 2004, Pinnacle Foods acquired Aurora Foods of St. Louis, Missouri. Two years later, it acquired the food business of Dial Corporation including the Armour Star canned meats business. In 2009, the Swanson brand was discontinued in the United States, but remained in use in Canada. That same year, Pinnacle Foods also acquired Birds Eye Foods, Inc. adding a mix of frozen and specialty brands to its portfolio. In November 2014, Pinnacle Foods announced that it would acquire Garden Protein International, Inc., maker of Gardein, from founder Yves Potvin, for $154 million. In November 2015, Pinnacle Foods announced that it would be acquiring Boulder Brands for around $710 million, as part of the company’s strategy to expand its health and wellness services.
