CLEVELAND — Eagle Foods announced Wednesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Helper main meals and Suddenly Salad side businesses from General Mills Inc.
The proposed transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of calendar year 2022, subject to regulatory approval.
"We are builders of brands, categories and people," said Eagle CEO Bernard Kreilmann. "The Helper and Suddenly Salad brands, with strong heritage and high consumer awareness, are a perfect fit for what Eagle does best – investing in, innovating and revitalizing brands to drive growth and nurture them to reach their full potential."
The acquisition creates three diversified platforms within Eagle Foods focused on growing center store categories for retailers: snacks, baking, and meals and sides. Eagle will continue investing in its growing snacks and milk business in parallel with this new investment.
Eagle Foods has been successful in driving brand and category growth by investing in R&D, innovations, marketing, and strong supply chain efficiencies. As the leader in the sweetened condensed milk category, Eagle Foods has consistently driven sales and share growth by bringing new households into the category. Eagle Foods also reversed negative share and distribution trends of two struggling popcorn brands it acquired, Cretors and Popcorn Indiana, turning them into two of the fastest growing brands in their category.
"We will leverage our core values of entrepreneurship, collaboration, and quality to grow all of our brands and further expand into the center of the store," added Kreilmann. "We will immediately start expanding the positioning of these two iconic brands and bring consumers tasty, convenient, and affordable meal solutions."
