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New international mega corporate behemoth just dropped.
Mars, the company behind M&M’s and Snickers, as well as pet brands like Iams and Whiskas, will acquire snackmaker Kellanova, which owns Cheez-It and Pringles, for $35.9 billion in cash, in what is expected to be one of the largest food industry mergers since chocolate and peanut butter met cute. This is what it must feel like when two family dynasties have a super lavish wedding (with really good snacks).
“This is a truly historic combination with a compelling cultural and strategic fit,” Steve Cahillane, chair, president, and CEO of Kellanova, said in a statement. “Kellanova has been on a transformation journey to become the world’s best snacking company, and this opportunity to join Mars enables us to accelerate the realization of our full potential and our vision.”
Kellanova formed last year after food giant Kellogg’s separated its North American cereal businesses, leaving its cereal segment under WK Kellogg Co. and snack foods under the newly-formed Kellanova. Mars, meanwhile, bought Kind North America, the maker of Kind Bars, in 2020, but it’s otherwise best known for its chocolate candies, like M&M’s and Twix.
The New York Times reports that deal will allow Mars to expand into salty snacks, potentially taking a page from the Hershey playbook, which acquired the parent company of Skinny Pop in 2017.
Mars’s acquisition is part of a larger aim to create a “broader, global snacking business” on the back of “globally recognized and beloved brands,” Andrew Clarke, global president of Mars Snacking, said in a statement.
Not that it’s an easy time to be a snack maker in the US right now, as rising prices squeeze consumer wallets (and make acquisitions more compelling).
But if anyone can weather the storm, we’d put our money on the company that now practically owns the snack aisle. In fact, a note on that: The acquisition could very well draw regulator attention, but the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025.