By Lauren Thomas

Hershey agreed to a roughly $750 million deal for the popcorn brand LesserEvil, according to people familiar with the matter.

The details

An agreement was announced by the company Thursday, confirming an earlier report from The Wall Street Journal. Hershey didn't disclose the price it agreed to pay.

The deal value could grow over time from $750 million if LesserEvil hits certain milestones in its performance, the people familiar with the matter added.

LesserEvil had recently tapped bankers to pursue a sale of its business, which makes a range of snacks using what it says are better-for-you ingredients.

Among its products are popcorn made with avocado oil, "space balls" that mimic cheese balls and organic onion-flavored corn rings, a play on Funyuns.

The context

LesserEvil is run by Charles Coristine, a former Wall Street executive who bought the company when it was struggling.

Big snack companies have been seeking to buy up popular smaller brands to freshen up their portfolios.

PepsiCo last year agreed to acquire tortilla-chip maker Siete Foods for $1.2 billion. Flowers Foods, the company behind Wonder Bread, in January said it would buy the healthy cracker maker Simple Mills for nearly $800 million.

Hershey's acquisitions in recent years include the sour candy brand Sour Strips and Dot's Pretzels. The Pennsylvania-based company is known for its chocolate offerings, but that has become a liability with record-high cocoa prices.

A deal for LesserEvil would be a relatively small transaction for Hershey, which has a market value of about $33 billion. Its share price is down about 3% so far this year.

Write to Lauren Thomas at lauren.thomas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 03, 2025 12:06 ET (16:06 GMT)

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