ConAgra made unsolicited bid for Ralcorp: report

Stock Market Predictions

BANGALORE/CHICAGO (Global Markets) - Shares of Ralcorp Holdings Inc (RAH.N) jumped on Friday after CNBC said ConAgra Foods Inc (CAG.N) had made an unsolicited bid for the private-label food maker and that talks were "no longer ongoing."

ConAgra sent a letter to Ralcorp about two months ago, the cable television channel reported.

When contacted, a ConAgra spokeswoman said the company had no comment. Ralcorp, which also makes Post branded cereals, did not return calls or mails requesting comment.

ConAgra, the maker of Healthy Choice frozen meals and Slim Jim meat snacks, has been struggling with increases in costs of commodities such as gas, dairy and wheat.

Some food industry executives and analysts have said that the sector may see fewer mergers and acquisitions in 2011 compared with 2010, partly due to high commodity prices and companies' wish for the perfect right strategic buys.

Ralcorp -- which sells a wide range of products such as pasta, cereals, corn snack products, syrups and salad dressings -- has itself grown through acquisitions buying as many as 20 companies in the past 10 years including American Italian Pasta for $1.2 billion last year.

Ralcorp has a market value of over $4 billion.

Ralcorp shares, which had been halted on the New York Stock Exchange, were up 8.5 percent at $77.47 in afternoon trade after soaring to $81.19. Shares of ConAgra rose 0.2 percent to $24.40.

(Reporting by Brad Dorfman and Jessica Wohl in Chicago, Franklin Paul in New York and Mihir Dalal in Bangalore; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Gopakumar Warrier)