Hormel Foods to buy chicken supplier Brakebush Brothers for $1.055 billion

Brakebush generated about $1.2 billion in net sales over the past 12 months and will sit mainly in Hormel Foods' foodservice business

Hormel Foods has agreed to buy Brakebush Brothers, a value-added chicken company, from Brakebush Holdings for $1.055 billion in cash. The base price is subject to customary adjustments.

Brakebush generated approximately $1.2 billion in net sales over the last 12 months. Once the deal closes, it will be reported primarily within Hormel Foods' Foodservice segment.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of Hormel Foods' fiscal 2027, pending customary conditions including antitrust approval. Hormel Foods says the deal will not add to adjusted earnings per share until fiscal 2028.

The price comes as Hormel Foods works through compressed margins and a recent quarter that missed earnings expectations, so putting $1.055 billion in cash toward a deal with no near-term earnings benefit does little to ease that pressure. The purchase deepens the company's push into value-added protein and foodservice, a strategic move rather than an immediate earnings catalyst, and still needs antitrust clearance before it can close. With accretion roughly two years away and cash committed now, the stock is likely to stay largely unchanged near term, even as the longer-term logic behind the deal holds up.