Post strengthens natural offerings with Hearthside buy
Post will pay out $158m for cereal and granola brands from natural ready-to-eat cereal specialist Hearthside Food Solutions, in a deal to be completed by June.
Cereal brands acquired will include Golden Temple, Peace Cereal, Sweet Home Farm and Willamette Valley Granola Company along with the Hearthside’s private label granola business.
Post plans to merge the new buy with recently purchased Attune Foods – another natural cereal specialist.
“This transaction expands Post’s participation in the high-growth segments of the cereal category, and we are excited about the expanded footprint it provides us,” said Bill Stiritz, Post chairman and CEO.
“This acquisition will provide us with expanded presence with new retail partners and will be accretive to both top-line growth and earnings,” Stiritz said.
CEO of Hearthside Rich Scalise pinpointed the Golden Temple brand as a strong addition for Post.
“Golden Temple performed very well over the past three years, and we grew both revenue and EBITDA significantly. Golden Temple products have a strong market position within all-natural cereals, and we think they will be an excellent addition to Post’s product portfolio,” Scalise said.
Manufacturing expansion
The deal includes a 135,000 square foot manufacturing site and a 30,000 square foot finished goods warehouse located in Eugene, Oregon.
Post will continue to run the business from here, merged with the Attune business that has offices in Phoenix, Arizona and San Francisco, California.