US company acquires Weetabix for £1.4bn

The brand’s commitment to supporting British growers is not yet known amid the deal
The brand’s commitment to supporting British growers is not yet known amid the deal

UK cereal firm Weetabix is to be bought by US firm Post Holdings for $1.8bn (£1.4bn), its owner has confirmed.

The sale comes just five years after Chinese state-owned Bright Food took control of Weetabix in a deal that valued it at £1.2 billion at the time of a major overseas push stretching from Australia to Israel.

The iconic brand, manufactured only with British wheat, has been made in the UK since 1932.

The company has made efforts to broaden its business amid declining sales in the breakfast cereal segment of the food market

In the UK, Weetabix is the second-largest cereal maker behind the US food company Kellogg's.

British wheat from British farmers

Weetabix is headquartered in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire. In the UK it has factories in Burton Latimer and Corby, and has pledged to use only wheat from UK farmers, and from as close as possible to its production plant in Northamptonshire.

The company buys 100,000t of British wheat direct from farm each year from a pool of about 300 approved growers through two grain merchants.

Weetabix CEO Giles Turrell said: “Today’s deal is great news for the team at Weetabix and all those who love our brands. The past five years have seen us increase our branded sales at home and overseas.

“Post is a leader within its markets and shares our commitment to providing great tasting nutritious products for the whole family. I’m confident they will help us open doors for continued expansion.”

Last year, Weetabix released a range of limited edition ‘first harvest’ packs to mark the first of its yellow box cereals to contain crop from Harvest 2016.