Mondelēz International, Inc. announced an agreement to acquire Clif Bar & Company, leading US maker of nutritious energy bars with organic ingredients, for $2.9 billion with additional contingent earnout consideration. The acquisition of leading on-trend brands CLIF®, LUNA® and CLIF Kid® expands Mondelēz International’s global snack bar business to more than $1 billion, including its complementary and leading refrigerated snacking business Perfect Snacks in the US and leading performance nutrition business Grenade in the UK. This acquisition also advances the company’s strategy to reshape its portfolio to sustain higher long-term growth.
The transaction is expected to be top-line accretive in year two and create cost synergies by using Mondelez International’s global and North American scale to expand Clif’s sales distribution and gain further penetration in existing and new customers and channels in the US.
Mondelēz International will continue to operate the Clif Bar & Company business from its headquarters in Emeryville, Calif., nurturing its entrepreneurial spirit and maintaining the brand’s purpose and authenticity. The company will also continue to manufacture its products in its facilities in Twin Falls, ID, and Indianapolis.
The acquisition of Clif Bar & Company will build on Mondelēz International’s continued prioritization of fast-growing snacking segments in key geographies. So far in 2022, Mondelēz International has announced an agreement to acquire Ricolino, Mexico’s leading confectionary company, from Grupo Bimbo and closed on its acquisition of Chipita S.A., a leader in the Central and Eastern European snack-size cakes and pastries category. This progress followed a year of strong global snacking growth in 2021, including the acquisitions of Grenade, a leading U.K. performance nutrition company; Gourmet Food Holdings, a leading Australian food company in the attractive premium biscuit and cracker category; and Hu, a well-being snacking company in the United States.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and a pre-closing F reorganization and conversion to a limited liability company by Clif Bar & Company, and the transaction is expected to close in Q3 following customary regulatory review.
