NEW YORK -- CST Brands, Whitewave Foods, Monster Beverage and Verifone: These brands well-known to those in the convenience-store industry are among more than a dozen companies that Jim Kramer believes “should get acquired in 2015.”
Never one to lack for an opinion, the host of CNBC’s "Mad Money" and co-founder of TheStreet.com presented his list of acquisition opportunities—and whom he think should do the buying—during a presentation titled “The Deal Economy: Predictions & Perspectives for 2015” in New York City.
According to a summary provided by The Street, here are some of Cramer’s insights:
Hain Celestial (HAIN)
Cramer thinks that one of the major consumer-packaged-goods companies—General Mills, Kellogg, Campbell Soup, Nestle, Kraft Foods or Mondelez International—should snap up organic and natural foods maker Hain Celestial. With a market cap of $5.7 billion, acquiring Hain Celestial at a 25% premium would cost approximately $7.1 billion.
WhiteWave Foods (WWAV)
Cramer believes one of these CPG companies should also consider acquiring WhiteWave Foods, a maker of plant-based foods, beverages, coffee creamers, dairy and other organic products.
With a market cap of $6.1 billion, acquiring WhiteWave at a 25% premium would cost approximately $7.6 billion.
Monster Beverage (MNST)
Coca-Cola should acquire the rest of Monster Beverage, Cramer said. Coca-Cola purchased a 16.7% stake in the energy-drink manufacturer for about $2.15 billion in August. Monster Beverage's market cap is just about $18 billion.
Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR)
Cramer also thinks Coca-Cola should buy out the remaining shares it doesn't own of Keurig Green Mountain.
Coca-Cola "has a fantastic balance sheet and both deals would be done with very cheap borrowed money," Cramer said, according to The Street. "With Monster, Coca-Cola can dominate the only beverage category with double-digit growth. … With Keurig, it can own the hot and cold in-home do-it-yourself beverage company to fend off homemade cola makers."
VeriFone (PAY)
VeriFone, the point-of-sale tech company, could be a "perfect merger partner" for ATM-manufacturer NCR, Cramer said. VeriFone has a market cap of $4.9 billion. NCR has a roughly equal market cap.
"Given how much technology it [VeriFone] has, it's a natural candidate to be acquired," Cramer said. "Together the two could offer a one-stop solution for all retailers worldwide making the transition to Apple pay."
Blackhawk Network (HAWK)
Prepaid-card leader Blackhawk is "ripe" to be bought by Alliance Data Systems, a provider of private-label credit-card loyalty programs and data-driven marketing services. Blackhawk's market cap is $1.9 billion.
CST Brands (CST)
Cramer believes Marathon Petroleum should acquire CST Brands, a retailer of fuel and convenience merchandise with more than 2,000 c-stores in the United States. CST's market cap is approximately $3.4 billion.
Click here to see the complete list of Cramer’s predictions from his presentation.
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