H.J. Heinz Co.

On March 24, 2015, H.J. Heinz Holding Corporation entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of March 24, 2015, among Kraft Foods Group, Inc. (“Kraft”), Kite Merger Sub Corp., H.J. Heinz Holding Corporation and Kite Merger Sub LLC (the “Merger Agreement”).  Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, Kite Merger Sub Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of H.J. Heinz Holding Corporation, merged with and into Kraft, with Kraft surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of H.J. Heinz Holding Corporation.  We refer to this merger transaction as the 2015 Merger.  The 2015 Merger was consummated on July 2, 2015, which we refer to as the Merger Date, at which time H.J. Heinz Holding Corporation changed its name to “The Kraft Heinz Company” (the “Company” or “Kraft Heinz”). Before the consummation of the 2015 Merger, H.J. Heinz Holding Corporation was controlled by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (“Berkshire Hathaway”) and 3G Special Situations Fund III, L.P. (“3G Capital,” and together with Berkshire Hathaway, the “Sponsors”) following their acquisition of H.J. Heinz Company on June 7, 2013 (\"2013 Merger). The Sponsors initially owned 850 million shares of common stock in H.J. Heinz Holding Corporation, with Berkshire Hathaway having warrants to purchase approximately 46 million additional shares of common stock, which it exercised in June 2015. Prior to, but in connection with, the 2015 Merger, the Sponsors purchased an additional 500 million newly issued shares of the Company\'s common stock for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $10.0 billion . Immediately prior to the consummation of the 2015 Merger, each share of H.J. Heinz Holding Corporation issued and outstanding common stock was reclassified and changed into 0.443332 of a share of Kraft Heinz common stock. All share and per share amounts in the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto have been retroactively adjusted for all periods presented to give effect to this conversion, including reclassifying an amount equal to the change in par value of common stock from additional paid-in capital. In the 2015 Merger, all outstanding shares of Kraft common stock (other than deferred shares and restricted shares) were converted into the right to receive, on a one -for-one basis, shares of Kraft Heinz common stock, on a tax-free basis. Upon the completion of the 2015 Merger, the Kraft shareholders of record received a special cash dividend of $16.50 per share. In addition, Berkshire Hathaway has an $8.0 billion preferred stock investment in Kraft Heinz which entitles it to a 9.0% annual dividend.
10-Q