Chocolate manufacturer The Hershey Company has agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of Amplify Snack Brands for approximately $1.6bn.

The agreement was approved by the companies’ boards of directors.

As per the deal, The Hershey Company will buy Amplify’s shares for $12.00 per share.

The Hershey Company will be funding the transaction with available cash-on-hand and new debt.

“The Hershey Company will buy Amplify’s shares for $12.00 per share.”

Completion of the transaction is subject to Amplify’s stockholders, certain regulatory approvals and other customary conditions, which are expected to take place in Q1 2018.

The Hershey Company president and CEO Michele Buck said: “The acquisition of Amplify and its product portfolio is an important step in our journey to becoming an innovative snacking powerhouse as together it will enable us to bring scale and category management capabilities to a key sub-segment of the warehouse snack aisle.

“Hershey’s snack mix and meat snacks products, combined with Amplify’s Skinny Pop, Tyrrells, Oatmega, Paqui and other international brands, will allow us to capture more consumer snacking occasions by creating a broader portfolio of brands.”

Amplify brands focuses on better-for-you products that deliver clean, simple and transparent ingredients, as well as unique flavours and forms.

Amplify Snack Brands president and CEO Tom Ennis said: “Since Amplify’s inception in 2014, our company’s goal has been to bring transparency to our products, and clean ingredients and great tasting snacks to consumers.

“This transaction is a continuation of our mission as Hershey also believes in bringing to consumers great-tasting snacks made with the best ingredients possible.

“Hershey is a great cultural partner for Amplify and I’m excited about our team who will have access to Hershey’s marketing and go-to-market resources to take our brands to the next level.”