Tobacco Supplier Expects to complete its acquisition of Shank’s Extracts by the end of the year
Released
September 7, 2021
from
Katherine Schulte
Richmond-based agricultural products company Universal Corp. has reached an agreement to acquire specialty ingredient, flavor and food company Shank’s Extracts Inc., it announced on Tuesday.
Founded in 1899, Shank’s is a privately held company specializing in vanilla extract products. The company with more than 200 employees produces more than 2,400 extracts, distillates, natural flavors and colors for industrial and private label customers. Shank’s is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and has a 191,000 square foot manufacturing facility.
“This agreement with Shank’s is another important step in Universal’s effort to identify and implement opportunities that will expand and improve our herbal ingredient platform,” said Universal Chairman, President and CEO George C. Freeman III, in an explanation. “As the domestic market for natural food flavors continues to accelerate, we are pleased to be able to expand our customer offering with Shank’s portfolio of high-quality plant extracts.”
The takeover is expected to be completed by the end of 2021. Universal expects to fund the purchase with cash and credit under its committed revolving credit facility.
Upon completion of the transaction, Shank’s will operate as part of Universal’s herbal ingredients platform. The existing management team will continue to run the company and report to J. Patrick O’Keefe, Senior Vice President of Universal Global Ventures Inc.
Universal Corp. was founded in 1918 and supplies manufacturers of consumer goods with agricultural products. The company operates in more than 30 countries and its main subsidiary is Universal Tobacco Leaf Inc., which purchases and processes leaf tobacco for sale to tobacco product manufacturers. Universal had sales of $ 2 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021.