Houlihan Lokey Advises Dot’s Pretzels

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Dot’s Pretzels LLC (Dot’s) has been acquired by The Hershey Company (Hershey). The transaction closed on December 14, 2021.

Founded in 2011 by Dorothy Henke in Velva, North Dakota, Dot’s began as a special family snack that she shared with family, friends, and neighbors. Since making her first batch of seasoned pretzels, the company has expanded its line of products to include cheese snacks, pork rinds, and candy bars, which can be found across the country at key retailers. Dot’s products include flavored pretzels (i.e., Original Homestyle, Honey Mustard, and Southwest), Cheese Curls, Pork Rinds, and Mr. Dot’s Candy Bar. The company has emerged as the fastest-growing and most disruptive independent snack brand in recent history, bringing innovation and incremental consumers to large, “sleepy” snack categories.

The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people, and enduring commitment to helping children succeed. Hershey has approximately 17,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 90 brands around the world that drive more than $8 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kit Kat®, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop, and Pirate’s Booty.

This deal represents another successful transaction for Houlihan Lokey in the food and beverage industry.