photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World photo

Pretzels Inc. CEO Greg Pearson, left, speaks with several visitors at an open house to celebrate the company's new Lawrence manufacturing facility on Oct. 21, 2021.

Candy-making giant The Hershey Company has signed a deal that will give it ownership of a recently constructed pretzel manufacturing plant in Lawrence.

Hershey announced on Wednesday that it had signed agreements to purchase Indiana-based Pretzels Inc., which recently opened a new manufacturing facility in Lawrence VenturePark near 23rd Street and O’Connell Road.

Hershey also announced that it has struck a deal to purchase the rapidly growing Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels brand. The two acquisitions are related as Pretzels Inc. has a manufacturing contract to produce many varieties of Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels, according to information released by Hershey.

Hershey specifically mentioned the Lawrence plant as one of the assets it was buying in the $1.2 billion deal with the two companies, and touted the “product expertise and manufacturing capabilities” it was getting with the Pretzels Inc. purchase.

“Pretzels Inc. will help us expand Hershey’s snacking and production capabilities while keeping the special connection to Dot’s,” Michele Buck, president and CEO of Hershey, said in a release. “It will be important as we continue to grow this already fast-growing brand and create new products in the broader pretzel category.”

Pretzels Inc. hosted a grand opening celebration for its Lawrence production center late last month. At that time, Pretzels Inc.’s chief executive officer said the plant had about 70 employees and would have about 250 once all of its lines become operational. He didn’t offer a timeline for that expansion, but already the new plant is one of the larger economic development projects the city has landed in recent years.

As part of the deal, Hershey will acquire all three of Pretzels Inc’s manufacturing plants — the Lawrence plant plus two in Indiana — and it will acquire four pretzel seasoning facilities that are part of the Dot’s brand.

Hershey said it plans to grow the pretzel business considerably as it works to advance “Hershey’s snacking powerhouse vision.” The Dot’s brand is considered to be the fastest-growing major U.S. pretzel brand, Hershey said. Buck said more than half of all pretzel sales growth in the U.S. came from the Dot’s brand.

Hershey said Dot’s and Pretzels Inc. had combined revenues of about $275 million over the last year. Hershey expects to finalize the purchases by the end of 2021. Hershey, which is based in Hershey, Pa., is publicly traded and generates about $8.1 billion in revenue, with about 90 different brands. Those include the Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Skinny Pop and Pirate’s Booty brands, among others. The company has about 17,000 employees.