Updated
Updated · Business Insider · Aug 16
Ferrero Completes $3.1 Billion WK Kellogg Deal, Adding Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes
Updated
Updated · Business Insider · Aug 16

Ferrero Completes $3.1 Billion WK Kellogg Deal, Adding Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes

3 articles · Updated · Business Insider · Aug 16

Summary

  • $3.1 billion gave Ferrero control of WK Kellogg in February, pushing the Italian group deeper into the US food market beyond candy and into breakfast cereal.
  • More than 50 US brands now sit in Ferrero's portfolio after a decade of acquisitions, including Butterfinger, Baby Ruth, Keebler and Famous Amos.
  • US revenue has climbed to about $3 billion from roughly $600 million since 2017, and the market now contributes about 15% of Ferrero's global sales versus 4% a decade ago.
  • More than $5 billion in US investment over five years has funded manufacturing and product development, including a 45,000-square-foot Chicago R&D center and a $75 million Nutella Peanut production line.
  • WK Kellogg also brings risk because cereal sales were already declining before the takeover, testing Ferrero's strategy of reviving established American brands.

Insights

Will Ferrero's massive five-billion-dollar gamble to revive fading American cereal and cookie brands actually pay off?
How is an Italian chocolate maker quietly taking over America's breakfast tables and childhood snack aisles?