TreeHouse and Post Consummate Nixed Cereal Deal

TreeHouse Foods on June 1 revealed it had successfully sold its private label, ready-to-eat cereal business to Post Holdings Inc. – a deal that had been nixed by the Federal Trade Commission in January 2020.

The purchase price was $85 million, which may put the sale under a threshold that requires FTC approval. Last year, the FTC objected to what then was a $110 million transaction on the basis that it would give Post more than 60% of the private label cereal market. The deal was first struck in 2019.

Both companies were a little sketchy in explaining the new deal but it appears nothing has changed. The transaction involves all of TreeHouse's cereal business – which ironically already is based in Post's hometown St. Louis – and includes two manufacturing plants in Lancaster, Ohio, and Sparks, Nev., plus a research and development facility in Sauget, Ill.