Zhìtōng Cáijīng learned from its APP that Marcy, a privately owned confectioners giant whose brands include M&M's and Snickers, announced on Wednesday local time that it will acquire Cheez-It and the manufacturer of the beloved "Pringles" potato chips among snack lovers. $Kellanova (K.US)$ The scale of the trade acquisition will be as high as nearly 36 billion US dollars, making it the largest acquisition in the packaging snack food industry.
According to media reports, Mars will pay a significant premium with cash in full to acquire Kellanova at $83.50 per share, which is a premium of about 33% over the closing price of Kellanova which was first reported by the media on August 2nd.
On Wednesday's pre-market trading in the US, stimulated by this good news of a full cash acquisition, Kellanova's stock price rose by about 7.5% to $80.10. Calculated by equity, this means that its current market value is about $28.58 billion, still lower than Mars' offer.
As this transaction is completed, the sales growth rate of American packaged food companies, including the Kraft Heinz, Mondelez International and Hershey, has significantly slowed down, or even declined, due to budget constraints from customers who generally choose cheaper private brands rather than more expensive branded goods under the pressures of sustained inflation and high interest rates.
This deal is overshadowing Mars' acquisition of Wrigley for as much as $23 billion in 2008, and will bring many popular consumer brands, including Mars' Twix, Bounty, and Milky Way chocolates and Kellanova's Pop-Tarts, Rice Krispies Treats, and Eggo waffles, under the same roof.
It is understood that in terms of antitrust supervision, some legal experts believe that this acquisition is not expected to face too many government antitrust barriers, as the services or products provided by the two companies overlap only to a limited extent.
Both companies said that Kellanova's many popular brands would become a core part of Mars, led by Andrew Clarke, President of Mars Wrigley Confectionery Global, headquartered in Chicago. This major transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025.
Last year, Kellanova was spun off from WK Kellogg, mainly rooted in salty snack business and the sale of grain products outside of North America. WK Kellogg inherited the former parent company's North American grain business.
The latest annual financial report data shows that Kellanova's net sales exceeded $13 billion in 2023.