A US cereal producer is understood to be in the running for a £1.5bn takeover of Northamptonshire-headquartered Weetabix.
According to Sky News, New York Stock Exchange-listed Post Holdings is one of two bidders hoping to acquire the business in a deal that could be closed before the end of March.
Post is headquartered in St Louis, Missouri, and makes the Fruity Pebbles and Golden Crisp brands of cereal.
Royal Warrant-holder Weetabix is owned by Chinese group Bright Food, which initially took a 60 per cent stake in the business alongside Lion Capital in 2012.
It completed its purchase of the remaining 40 per cent shareholding from Lion Capital in June 2015 before passing on a stake to Baring Private Equity Asia. At the time, it was reported that the deal was worth £1.2bn.
In December, reports surfaced that Bright Food had hired Goldman Sachs to find a buyer for Weetabix, with speculation that it could struggle to recoup its original investment.
By Storm Rannard
Source: Insider Media
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The group said that the bottling line, which adds 6,500 square metres to the existing 60,700-square-metre site, is the next necessary stage in the company’s international development. The leading brand in Campari Group’s global sales, demand for the Italian bitter apéritif has grown by 500% in the last decade.
The partnership will see Coca-Cola adopt new technology to foster innovation and productivity globally. Through the deal, Coca-Cola has made a $1.1 billion commitment to the Microsoft Cloud and its generative AI capabilities.
