FACTBOX-Big-ticket consumer deals over past few decades
By Juveria Tabassum
March 20 (Reuters) - Unilever is in talks to sell its food business to smaller rival McCormick, a potential deal that would unite the British company's Hellmann's and Knorr brands with the U.S. spice maker's Cholula hot sauce.
Deal-making in the consumer goods industry including food, beverage, personal care, pet products and health, has been robust, with companies seeking consolidation to weather inflationary pressures, shifting consumer preferences, and intensifying competition.
Here's a list of the biggest M&As in the industry over the past few decades:
Date | Deal |
March 20, 2026 | Unilever ULVR.L is in talks to separate its food business and combine it with Cholula hot sauce maker McCormick MKC.N. |
Nov. 3, 2025 | Kimberly-Clark KMB.N laid down $40 billion to buy Tylenol maker Kenvue KVUE.N in a cash-and-stock deal, to create one of the biggest consumer health goods companies in the United States. |
Aug. 25, 2025 | Keurig Dr Pepper KDP.O said it will buy Dutch coffee company JDE Peet's JDEP.AS for $18.4 billion in cash, and the combined firm will split its beverages and coffee units as it looks for a firmer stronghold over the global coffee and North America refreshment beverages markets. |
July 10, 2025 | WK Kellogg agreed to be bought by the owner of Ferrero Rocher in a deal worth around $3.1 billion, as the cereal maker struggled with weakening consumer demand. |
March 17, 2025 | PepsiCo bought prebiotic soda brand Poppi for $1.95 billion, expanding its healthier sodas and energy drinks assortment. |
Dec. 21, 2024 | Cheerios maker General Mills GIS.N bought Whitebridge Pet Brands' North American premium cat feeding and pet treating business, which includes Tiki Pets and Cloud Star brands, for $1.45 billion. |
Oct. 1, 2024 | PepsiCo PEP.O bought Siete Foods parent Garza Food Ventures for $1.2 billion, beefing up the Frito-Lay owner's snacking portfolio amid a shift to private-label brands among cost-conscious consumers. |
Sept. 12, 2024 | General Mills sold North America yogurt business to French dairy firms Groupe Lactalis and Sodiaal in a $2.1 billion deal. |
Aug. 14, 2024 | Snickers-maker Mars buys Pringles owner Kellanova in a nearly $36 billion deal. |
March 12, 2024 | U.S. packaged food maker Campbell Soup |
Dec. 19, 2022 | Mondelez MDLZ.O sold its gum business, which housed brands such as Trident and Dentyne, in developed markets to European gum and confectionery maker and Mentos parent Perfetti Van Melle Group for $1.35 billion |
April 25, 2022 | Mondelez broadened its presence in Mexico with a $1.3 billion purchase of breadmaker Grupo Bimbo's BIMBOA.MX confectionery business, Ricolino. |
June 21, 2022 | Cadbury parent Mondelez International bought energy bar maker Clif Bar & Company for $2.9 billion, as the company continued to consolidate its global presence. |
Dec. 11, 2019 | Nestle SA agreed to sell its U.S. ice cream business to Froneri in a deal valued at $4 billion, moving control of brands including Häagen-Dazs to a joint venture the Swiss group set up in 2016. |
Feb. 23, 2018 | General Mills bought Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc for nearly $8 billion, foraying into a fast-growing pet food market to counter declining sales of processed foods, as consumers turned more health conscious. |
Jan. 29, 2018 | Keurig Green Mountain struck a deal worth more than $21 billion to combine with soda maker Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc to form a North American drinks company, Keurig Dr Pepper. |
Jan. 18, 2018 | Swiss food group Nestle, also the world's biggest packaged-food company, agreed to sell its U.S. confectionery business to Italy's Ferrero, maker of Nutella spread and Ferrero Rocher, for $2.8 billion. |
July 19, 2017 | Maryland-based McCormick bought Reckitt Benckiser Group's North American food business, paying a higher-than-expected $4.2 billion to add extra seasonings and sauces. |
Feb. 10, 2017 | Reckitt Benckiser agreed to buy U.S. baby formula maker Mead Johnson Nutrition for $16.6 billion, giving the British consumer goods company a bigger presence in developing markets. |
Aug. 29, 2016 | Mondelez International abandoned its pursuit to acquire Reese's Peanut Butter Cups maker Hershey HSY.N after the company turned down its $23 billion cash-and-stock offer. The deal would have created the world's largest confectioner at the time, overtaking Mars. |
July 2, 2015 | H.J. Heinz Co, backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, completed its purchase of Kraft Foods Group in a $46 billion deal, creating Kraft Heinz KHC.O, the third-largest food and beverage company in North America and fifth largest worldwide. |
Oct. 1, 2012 | Kraft Foods completes the split of its business, creating two separate companies. Mondelez International, a global snacks company, and Kraft Foods Group, which would be the North American grocery products firm. |
April 23, 2012 | Nestle bought U.S. drugmaker Pfizer's infant nutrition business for $11.85 billion, beating out French rival Danone DANO.PA as both sought to gain a strong foothold in the baby food market. |
Aug. 4, 2011 | Kraft Foods said it would spin-off its grocery business to focus on its snacks unit, which was seeing strong growth in emerging markets. |
Jan. 19, 2010 | Kraft Foods bought British candy maker Cadbury for about $19.6 billion, creating the world's biggest confectioner, marking the largest European food and beverage deal on record, according to Thomson Reuters data. |
Jan. 5, 2010 | Nestle bought Kraft Foods' North American frozen pizza business for $3.7 billion and ruled out an offer for Cadbury. |
April 29, 2008 | Mars created the world's largest confectionary company with its $23 billion acquisition of chewing gum manufacturer Wm Wrigley Jr Co. Combined, the two companies held 14.4% of the global confectionary market in 2006. |
Nov. 30, 2007 | Kraft Foods completes its acquisition of France-based Group Danone's global biscuit business for 5.3 billion euros ($7.2 billion), including the LU family of brands, expanding the largest North American food maker's foothold in Europe and emerging markets. |
Dec. 17, 2002 | Britain's Cadbury Schweppes Plc agreed to buy U.S. sweet maker Adams, owner of Trident and Dentyne chewing gums and Halls cough drops, for $4.2 billion from drugmaker Pfizer PFE.N, making it the world's largest confectionery group. |
Source: Company releases, Reuters reports
