Last updated on June 13th, 2024
The Ferrero Group has reached an agreement to acquire the cookie, fruit and fruit-flavored snack, ice cream cone and pie crust businesses from Kellogg Co.
The agreement is worth $1.3 billion.
Among the cookie brands Ferrero acquires are Keebler, Famous Amos Cookies, Mother’s, Murray sugar-free cookies, and Little Brownie Bakers, supplier of cookies to the Girl Scouts. Ferrero also will acquire other brands such as Stretch Island, Fruity Snacks and Keebler’s ice cream cones and pie crust products.
These businesses generated sales of approximately $900 million in 2018.
Also, Ferrero will acquire from Kellogg six owned U.S. food manufacturing facilities in Allyn, Washington; Augusta, Georgia; Florence and Louisville, Kentucky; two plants in Chicago, Illinois; and a leased manufacturing facility in Baltimore, Maryland.
“Kellogg Company’s cookie, fruit snack, ice cream cone and pie crust businesses are an excellent strategic fit for Ferrero as we continue to increase our overall footprint and product offerings in the North American market,” said Giovanni Ferrero, executive chairman of the Ferrero Group. “With this transaction, I look forward to bringing many iconic Kellogg brands into the Ferrero portfolio, to welcoming our new colleagues to the extended Ferrero community and to continuing Ferrero’s strong track record of growing brands, as we have through our successful acquisitions of Fannie May, Ferrara Candy Co. and the former Nestle U.S. confectionery business. We have great respect for Kellogg, its legacy and values, and are proud that Kellogg has chosen Ferrero as a good home for these businesses.”
Since 2017, Ferrero has acquired several U.S. brands and businesses. Its U.S. headquarters is in Parsippany, New Jersey.
“We are acquiring a portfolio of well-established brands that consumers love, with very strong market positions across their respective categories, allowing us to significantly diversify our portfolio and capitalize on exciting new growth opportunities in the world’s largest cookies market,” said Lapo Civiletti, CEO of the Ferrero Group.
The transaction, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the second half of the year. JP Morgan Securities plc and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP served as advisors to Ferrero.
Founded as a family business in Alba, Italy, in 1946, Ferrero is the third-largest company in the global chocolate confectionery market, with global sales of over $12 billion, distribution across over 170 countries and a workforce of more than 30,000 people across 55 countries.
Ferrero entered the U.S. in 1969 with Tic Tac breath mints and is now also known for products such as Ferrero Rocher, Nutella, Kinder Joy and Fannie May chocolates.
