Foods Deals Capture Attention in Last Week’s M&A Activity

Last week’s mergers and acquisitions activity included two food deals early in the week – Nestlé’s agreement to sell Starbucks-branded consumer packaged goods and Mondelez’s acquisition of Tate’s Bake Shop. Other deals included Recruit Holdings’ acquisition of Glassdoor and Twenty-First Century Fox’s purchase of seven television stations. On the topic of Twenty-First Century Fox, Comcast gained attention last week, as it sought to outbid Disney for Twenty-First Century Fox.

• Last week, Swiss-based Nestlé (VTX: NESN) struck a deal with Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) for $7.2 billion for the exclusive rights to sell Starbucks’ packaged coffees and Teavana teas around the world. The move will allow Starbucks to increase stock repurchases by from $15 billion to $20 billion through fiscal 2020.

• Mondelez International (NASDAQ: MDLZ), the owner of Oreo, Chips Ahoy, Wheat Thins, and other notable products, announced last Sunday night that the company would acquire Tate’s Bake Shop for approximately $500 million. Tate’s cookies are marketed as natural, authentic, “crafted baked goods” from Southampton, New York.

• Japanese HR services provider Recruit Holdings has agreed to buy US-based Glassdoor for $1.2 billion. Glassdoor is a job website that allows current and former employees to review companies and input salary data.
  

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• Twenty-First Century Fox (NASDAQ: FOXA) said last Wednesday that it had agreed to acquire seven television stations from Sinclair Broadcast Group for approximately $910 million. The deal will increase Fox’s coverage to nearly half of all US households and its market presence to 19 of the top 20 markets.