Diamond Foods Raises $181.4M in Follow-on Offering

Diamond Foods Inc., which sells Emerald nuts and Pop Secret popcorn, on Wednesday said it will net about $181.4 million in a secondary offering aimed at raising cash to fund an acquisition.

The company said the underwriters exercised their overallotment option to acquire 675,000 shares, bringing the total shares issued to nearly 5.2 million.

Diamond will use the proceeds to help pay for its acquisition of Kettle Foods. Diamond said last month it will buy Salem, Ore.-based maker of Kettle potato chips for $615 million.

Barclays Capital, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and BMO Capital Markets acted as joint book-running managers for the offering.

Diamond Foods shares fell 5 cents Wednesday to $41.69 after hitting a 52-week high of $42.87 during the session.

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