Packages of Pringles potato chips are displayed on a shelf at a market on April 5, 2011 in San Francisco, California. Diamond Foods Inc. has agreed to purchase Pringles chip operations from Procter & Gamble Co. for $1.5 billion, a move that will triple the size of its snack foods business.Â
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Family-owned candy giant Mars, whose brands include M&M’s and Snickers, said on Wednesday it would buy Cheez-It and Pringles maker Kellanova in a nearly $36 billion deal, making it the biggest deal in the packaged food industry.
Mars will pay $83.50 per share in an all-cash deal for Kellanova, representing about a 33% premium to Kellanova’s close on Aug. 2, before Reuters first reported that Mars was exploring a deal for the Pringles maker.
Shares of the company rose 8% to $80.45 before the bell.
The deal for Kellanova comes as sales growth at U.S. packaged food companies including Kraft Heinz, Mondelez and Hershey have taken a hit as budget-strapped customers hunt for cheaper, private-label alternatives to pricier branded items.
This has spurred dealmaking in the packaged food sector as companies seek scale to weather the impact of price inflation and weight-loss drugs weighing on demand.
The deal dwarfs Mars’ $23 billion takeover of Wrigley in 2008 and would bring under one roof a slate of popular consumer brands including Mars’ Twix, Bounty and Milky Way chocolates as well as Kellanova’s snacks portfolio of Pop-Tarts, Rice Krispies Treats and Eggo frozen waffles.
The acquisition is not expected to go through too many antitrust roadblocks due to the limited overlap between the two companies’ offerings, legal experts had told Reuters.
Kellanova, which split from WK Kellogg Co. last October, is rooted in a salty snacks business in the U.S. and around the world, and selling cereal outside of North America. WK Kellogg was left with the North American cereal business of Kellogg, the original parent company.
The Wall Street Journal reported the terms of the deal earlier on Tuesday.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
