Maybe it’s just the refreshing feeling of a brand new year, but this week has already seen a lot of action when it comes to companies buying other companies/brands. Yesterday Avis announced it was buying Zipcar, and today Hormel says it’s handing over $700 million to buy Skippy peanut butter from Unilever.

Hormel is the home of Spam, Dinty Moore and deli meats galore, but we don’t anticipate any wacky, meat + peanut butter combinations. At least we shudder to think of it.

CNN notes that Skippy earns its bread and (peanut) butter by way of $370 million in annual sales, with $100 million of that coming from outside of the U.S. The brand has been around since 1932 and is the No. 2 brand in all the world, behind  long-time competitor Jif.

Hormel says it’s pumped about the deal, as peanut butter is the second most popular sandwich we scarf down here in the U.S. of A. after a product Hormel knows well — ham.

There’s a big audience for peanut butter, in other words, as 74% of American households buy the stuff. I’ve got some in my pantry rightthisveryminute and am considering having a sandwich now, so someone is crunching the numbers right.

Good luck to you two crazy kids/companies, and please, we beg of you — no spam butter. We couldn’t handle it.

Spam maker buys Skippy peanut butter [CNNMoney]

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