Random business acquisition of the day - General Mills to buy Blue Buffalo

[Mook]

General Mills to buy Blue Buffalo pet food for $8 billion - Feb. 23, 2018

8 billion

General Mills, which is best known for cereal brands like Cheerios and Wheaties, is branching into the fast-growing pet food business with a multi-billion dollar acquisition.
General Mills announced Friday that it's buying Blue Buffalo Pet Products (BUFF) for $8 billion. The brand makes natural food for dogs and cats.

"We know that pets are family members, as you've heard me say multiple times, and we want to continue to do better for all family members, both non-furry and furry," said Blue Buffalo Chief Executive Officer Billy Bishop, in a call with analysts.

General Mills hasn't sold pet food for about 50 years. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Harmening referred to the purchase as a "portfolio reshaping strategy" in the analyst call.

"Reshaping our portfolio is something we intend to continue to do and we'll probably accelerate," he said.

General Mills has experienced some weak profits because of lackluster cereal and Yoplait yogurt sales. But Wall Street didn't seem to embrace its diversification plan. General Mills (GIS)' stock price dipped 3% in early trading. Standard & Poor's said that it lowered General Mills' rating to BBB "because of the substantial increase in leverage," though the outlook remains stable.

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[RICH17]

8,000,000,000.

fuck

 

[Blood on Blood]

So it’s official, cereal is human grade dog food

 

[IZZy]

So it’s official, cereal is human grade dog food

If you saw how they package their cereal you’d probably rather eat dog food

 

[CMNTMXR57]

They do this, but just recently, they closed or scaled back operations at many plants throughout the country...

I know the one in WeGo has had it's production scaled back.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

So it’s official, cereal is human grade dog food

Not the first one, I mean shit Purina made how many cereals back in the day?

That said my dog gets blue, I fucking hate it. I swear every few months the bag gets smaller and/or the price goes up. Pretty soon it will be an $80 20lb bag. I'll be like "is this the cat food bags, and why is it $80?"

 

[radioguy6]

quality premium pet food is a booming market

 

[CMNTMXR57]

And it's mostly sold on YOUR guilt. Guilt of feeding your animal processed food vs. all natural stuff (which in reality is still all processed and not made out of anything more "real" than the mainstream brands).

And before someone chimes in that some premium food is better for their animal than regular kibble, I DO understand special circumstances, food allergies, etc. Heck even my own doesn't process foods with red food die in it all too well... So I get why they're there, but to sell based on "OMG, you're feeding your dog/cat/hamster processed food..."

Like there is some 5-star chef at the Science Diet plant, chopping up fresh chicken or beef before sending it down the assembly line...