News

Pringles sold by P&G to Kellogg

Feb. 22, 2012—Pringles, the stackable pre-formed potato snack chips, now belongs to a Michigan company.  The Kellogg Co. of Battle Creek has agreed to buy the brand from its developer, the Procter & Gamble Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio, for a reported $2.7 billion.  News reports indicate the sale will be completed this summer.

Since last April Procter & Gamble had been negotiating to sell its Pringles brand to Diamond Foods, Inc., of San Francisco, Calif., a company that originated as a co-operative of walnut growers.  The deal fell through earlier this month when the confirmation of payment irregularities to nut growers led to the ouster of top Diamond executives and diminished the company’s ability to finance the proposed purchase.

The acquisition of Pringles would have made Diamond the second-largest snack-food producer in the nation behind PepsiCo, Inc., of Purchase, N.Y., the owner of the Frito-Lay brand.

As it is, Kellogg’s purchase of Pringles will vault that company to the second position in the snack industry.  Twelve years ago Kellogg bought the Keebler Co. of Elmhurst, Ill., and its line of snack crackers, which includes the Cheez-It brand that Keebler acquired in 1996 when it purchased Sunshine Biscuits.  In addition, Kellogg offers Special K Cracker Chips.

Kellogg’s chairman and CEO John Bryant issued a statement concerning the Pringles purchase:  “Pringles has an extensive global footprint that catapults Kellogg to the number two position in the worldwide savory snacks category, helping us achieve our objective of becoming a truly global cereal and snacks company.”