Special Project Costs

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2025

Restructuring and Related Activities [Abstract]

Note 4: Special Project Costs

Special project costs consist primarily of employee-related costs and other transition and termination costs related to certain divestiture, acquisition, integration, and restructuring activities. Employee-related costs include severance, retention bonuses, and relocation costs. Severance costs are generally recognized when deemed probable and estimable, retention bonuses are recognized over the estimated future service period of the impacted employees, and relocation costs are expensed as incurred. Other transition and termination costs include fixed asset-related charges, contract and lease termination costs, professional fees, and other miscellaneous expenditures associated with divestiture, acquisition, integration, and restructuring activities. With the exception of accelerated depreciation, these costs are expensed as incurred. These special project costs are reported in cost of products sold, other special project costs, other debt gains (charges) – net, and other income (expense) – net in the Statements of Consolidated Income (Loss) and are not allocated to segment profit. The obligation related to employee separation costs is included in other current liabilities in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Divestiture Costs: Total divestiture costs incurred to date related to the divested Sahale Snacks and Canada condiment businesses were $6.4, which included $4.3 and $2.1 of employee-related and other transition and termination costs, respectively. We incurred divestiture costs of $0.9 and $5.5 during the 2025 and 2024, respectively, which primarily consisted of employee-related costs and a noncash gain related to a lease termination in 2025. As of April 30, 2025, we do not anticipate any additional costs to be incurred related to these divestiture activities. The obligation related to severance and retention bonuses was $2.5 at April 30, 2024, and was fully satisfied as of April 30, 2025.

Furthermore, we identified opportunities to address certain distribution inefficiencies, as a result of the recent divestitures. We anticipate incurring approximately $12.0 of costs related to these efforts, consisting primarily of other transition and termination charges. The majority of these costs are expected to be cash charges and incurred by the end of 2026. We have recognized total cumulative costs of $6.5 during 2025, primarily consisting of other transition and termination costs. For additional information, see Note 3: Divestitures.

Integration Costs: Total integration costs related to the acquisition of Hostess Brands are anticipated to be approximately $190.0 and include transaction costs, employee-related costs, and other transition and termination charges, with the majority expected to be cash charges.

The following table summarizes our integration costs incurred related to the acquisition of Hostess Brands.


	2025		2024		Total Costs Incurred to Date at April 30, 2025
Transaction costs	$	—	$	99.0	$	99.0
Employee-related costs	9.6		33.4		43.0
Other transition and termination costs	27.9		15.0		42.9
Total integration costs	$	37.5	$	147.4	$	184.9

Cumulative noncash charges incurred through April 30, 2025 were $15.4, including $12.2 and $3.2 incurred during 2025 and 2024, respectively, and primarily consisted of accelerated depreciation. Transaction costs primarily reflect equity compensation payouts, legal fees, and fees related to a 364-day senior unsecured Bridge Loan that provided committed financing for the acquisition of Hostess Brands. Other transition and termination costs primarily consist of contract termination charges, accelerated depreciation, and consulting fees. We anticipate the remaining integration costs will be incurred by the end of 2026 and are expected to be split between employee-related and other transition and termination costs. The obligation related to severance and retention bonuses was $6.2 and $28.0 at April 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively, and is expected to be settled in 2026. For additional information, see Note 2: Acquisition.

Restructuring Costs: On May 27, 2025, we announced plans to close our Indianapolis, Indiana manufacturing facility, which manufactures Hostess branded products, and consolidate operations into other existing facilities by early calendar year 2026 to further optimize operations for our Sweet Baked Snacks segment. We anticipate incurring approximately $75.0 of costs related to these efforts, consisting of $60.0 in noncash charges for accelerated depreciation and $15.0 in employee-related and other transition and termination costs.