PepsiCo acquires Brazil's cookie and cracker producer Grupo Mabel
11 Nov 2011
PepsiCo, the world's largest snack company, yesterday expanded its presence in Latin America's largest economy by acquiring Mabel, one of Brazil's biggest cookie and cracker producers.
Although the New York-based company did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction, Brazilian newspaper, O Estado de S. Paulo, citing unidentified people close to the negotiations said that PepsiCo paid around $520 million.
The deal, which was reported last week by O Estado de S. Paulo, is subject to post-closing review by Brazil's Council for Economic Defense.
PepsiCo outbid global rivals Bunge Inc and Mexico's Grupo Bimbo for Mabel, which had sales of 6.6 billion reais last year.
In July Grupo Bimbo
The acquisition is expected to further strengthen PepsiCo's business in Brazil and adds to its portfolio of brands that include Elma Chips, Quaker, Toddy Chocolate Powder and Toddynho Chocolate Milk.
With the acquisition, PepsiCo will employ approximately 12,000 people in Brazil and operate 19 food and beverage manufacturing facilities across the country.
Based in the industrial city of Aparecida de Goiânia, Mabel, the second-largest maker of cookies in Latin America, has five manufacturing plants across Brazil and has more than 200 products, including crackers, cookies and wafers.
