Mars announced today that it will be acquiring Kellanova, maker of snacks, international cereal and noodles, North American plant-based foods, and frozen breakfast foods.

The two companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which Mars has agreed to acquire Kellanova for $83.50 per share in cash, for a total consideration of $35.9 billion, including assumed net leverage.

Kellanova is home to snacking brands including Pringles, Cheez-It, Pop-Tarts, Rice Krispies Treats, NutriGrain, and Rxbar, as well as food brands including Kellogg’s (international), Eggo, and MorningStar Farms. With roots dating back more than 100 years, Kellanova has a rich legacy of quality and innovation. Kellanova had 2023 net sales of more than $13 billion, with a presence in 180 markets and approximately 23,000 employees.

Kellanova’s portfolio complements the existing Mars portfolio, which includes billion-dollar snacking and confectionery brands like Snickers, M&M's, Twix, Dove, and Extra, as well as Kind and Nature's Bakery. With more than 150,000 associates across its petcare, snacking, and food businesses, Mars had 2023 net sales of more than $50 billion.

Poul Weihrauch, CEO and office of the president of Mars, Incorporated, says: “In welcoming Kellanova’s portfolio of growing global brands, we have a substantial opportunity for Mars to further develop a sustainable snacking business that is fit for the future. We will honor the heritage and innovation behind Kellanova’s incredible snacking and food brands while combining our respective strengths to deliver more choice and innovation to consumers and customers. We have tremendous respect for the storied legacy that Kellanova has built and look forward to welcoming the Kellanova team.”

Snacking is a large, attractive and durable category that continues to grow in importance with consumers. Upon completion of the transaction, Kellanova will become part of Mars Snacking, led by Global President Andrew Clarke and headquartered in Chicago, allowing Mars to bring even more brands to more consumers globally. Mars intends to apply its proven brand-building approach to further nurture and grow Kellanova’s brands, including accelerating innovation to meet evolving consumer tastes and preferences, investing locally to expand reach and introducing more better-for-you nutrition options to meet evolving consumer needs.

Steve Cahillane, chairman, president, and CEO of Kellanova, added: “This is a truly historic combination with a compelling cultural and strategic fit. 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. The transaction maximizes shareholder value through an all-cash transaction at an attractive purchase price and creates new and exciting opportunities for our employees, customers, and suppliers. We are excited for Kellanova’s next chapter as part of Mars, which will bring together both companies’ world-class talent and capabilities and our shared commitment to helping our communities thrive. With a proven track record of successfully and sustainably nurturing and growing acquired businesses, we are confident Mars is a natural home for the Kellanova brands and employees.”

Andrew Clarke, global president of Mars Snacking, commented: “This is an exciting opportunity to create a broader, global snacking business, allowing Kellanova and Mars Snacking to both achieve their full potential. Kellanova and Mars share long histories of building globally recognized and beloved brands. The Kellanova brands significantly expand our Snacking platform, allowing us to even more effectively meet consumer needs and drive profitable business growth. Our complementary portfolios, routes-to-market and R&D capabilities will unleash enhanced consumer-centric innovation to shape the future of responsible snacking.”

"Having been through a few of these now (Ernst & Young + CapGemini, Kraft + Heinz), I can say I have never been more excited about the potential of two great companies coming together. Massive complimentary Category, Commercial segments, and Global footprints will drive growth and opportunity for the $7 billion brands under the newly combined roof," comments David Beck, marketing director, commercial innovation, strategy, via LinkedIn.

"Snickers PopTarts? M&M Rice Krispie Treats? Endless possibilities ..." he posits.

Transaction advances strategic vision for the future of snacking

• Accelerates ambition to double Mars Snacking in the next decade, in alignment with global consumer demand trends. The addition of Kellanova provides Mars Snacking with entry into new attractive snacking categories. It will add two new billion-dollar brands – Pringles and Cheez-It – to the Mars business, which today includes 15 billion-dollar brands. It will also expand the Mars health & wellness Snacking portfolio with the addition of new complementary products like Rxbar and NutriGrain to reflect global trends and preferences. With this transaction, Mars can extend its commitment to nourishing wellbeing through an expanded global reach and diversified product portfolio to meet evolving consumer tastes and demands.
• Enhances portfolio with addition of unique, category-leading and growing brands. Kellanova’s differentiated brand portfolio is defined by uniqueness, delivering category leadership and spring-loaded platforms for future growth. The majority of Kellanova snacking brands outperform category competitors, particularly among Gen Z and Millennial consumers.
• Delivers stronger, differentiated portfolio and distribution platform for priority international markets. Kellanova’s globally recognized portfolio includes beloved and growing brands with untapped potential. The combined portfolio will be well-suited to meet consumer demands for a variety of tastes and price points in fast-growing geographies, including Africa and Latin America, through complementary routes-to-market, supply chains and local operations.
• Brings together world-class talent with leading brand-building experience. Both Mars and Kellanova have portfolios of some of the world’s most recognizable brands, all of which have been nurtured and grown by world-class talent with deep expertise. The acquisition of Kellanova by Mars will enable each company’s talent base to take advantage of greater combined resources and professional development opportunities, given the complementary nature of the broader family of brands.
• Combines complementary capabilities to unlock growth and consumer-centric innovation. The addition of Kellanova’s R&D capabilities will enable the combined business to share best practices in brand building, deliver enhanced digital capabilities, unlock complementary channel strengths, and advance brand ecosystems and immersions.
• Enhances positive societal impact of strong sustainability efforts. Kellanova has a long history of social and environmental leadership, including its Better Days Promise initiative, complementing the Mars Sustainable in a Generation Plan, which has delivered tangible progress, as reflected in its latest Sustainability Report, which documented strong decoupling of business growth from greenhouse gas emissions. Kellanova will also become part of the Mars Net Zero commitment and align with the Mars Responsible Marketing code.

Transaction details

Under the terms of the agreement, Mars will acquire all outstanding equity of Kellanova for $83.50 per share in cash, representing a total enterprise value of $35.9 billion. All of Kellanova’s brands, assets and operations, including its snacking brands, portfolio of international cereal and noodles, North American plant-based foods and frozen breakfast are included in the transaction.

Mars intends to fully finance the acquisition through a combination of cash-on-hand and new debt, for which commitments have been secured.

The agreement has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of Kellanova. The transaction is subject to Kellanova shareholder approval and other customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close within the first half of 2025. The transaction agreement permits Kellanova to declare and pay quarterly dividends consistent with historical practice prior to the closing of the transaction.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation Trust and the Gund Family have entered into agreements pursuant to which they have committed to vote shares representing 20.7% of Kellanova’s common stock, as of August 9, in favor of the transaction.

After closing, Battle Creek, MI will remain a core location for the combined organization.

A dedicated website providing ongoing information about the transaction is available at futureofsnacking.com.

Kellanova (formerly Kellogg’s) is on the current Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery “Top 50 Snack & Bakery Companies” list. Click here to view the current “Top 50” rankings.

Mars is on the current Candy Industry “Global Top 100 Candy Companies” list. Click here to view the current “Global Top 100” rankings.