Dive Brief:
- Diamond Foods' shares are rising by 9.66% Friday morning in pre-market trading, to $36, after the New York Post reported Kellogg is in talks to acquire it for $1 billion.
- "Kellogg is somewhere between aggressive and desperate to use mergers to try to evolve its business away from breakfast cereal," according to New York Post sources.
- Also per New York Post sources, the deal could hit between $35 and $40 per share, and the deal's price could reach $1.5 billion.
Dive Insight:
The shares uptick indicates Diamond Foods investors are happy at the prospect of a deal Friday morning.
In 2012, talk rose of the subject following Kellogg then buying Pringles, reported the San Fransico Business Times.
"[Diamond Foods is] clearly a fit in the portfolio," Kellogg CEO John Bryant told Reuters. "You could say our ability to do bolt-on acquisitions has probably expanded with the addition of this business."
Flash forward to 2015 and a struggling cereal sector, Bryant said, "An aging population and a growing interest in cereal as a snack or dessert will strengthen iconic brands like Special K, Frosted Flakes, and Froot Loops."