Kellogg to separate into three companies focusing on snacks, cereal and plant-based foods

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Kellogg is planning to separate into three independent public companies, sectioning off its iconic brands into distinct snacking, cereal and plant-based businesses.

Shares of the company rose as much as 8% in premarket trading but closed up only 1.9%.

The announcement Tuesday comes a decade after Kellogg's $2.7 billion purchase of Pringles, which signaled the company's shift to focusing on the global snacks business with people increasingly eating more often between meals. Kellogg, along with rivals like Frito-Lay-owner PepsiCo and Oreo-cookie owner Mondelez, have leaned into the trend by introducing more snacks and snapping up smaller brands. On Monday, Mondelez said it is acquiring Clif Bar for $2.9 billion.

Cereal sales, by contrast, have stagnated in the U.S. as people eat on the go and reach for a greater variety of options in the morning. Brands including Special K, Froot Loops and Rice Krispies had for decades been a foundation of Kellogg, but are no longer seen as key growth drivers for the company. The pandemic briefly revived the cereal category as more consumers ate breakfast at home, but Kellogg expects flat revenue growth for its North American cereal business in the future.

"Those who scratched their head in 2012 about the zero-overlap Pringles deal should scratch no longer. It's the legacy North American business that didn't fit management's plans, and today's announcement makes that final," Consumer Edge analyst Jonathan Feeney wrote in a note to clients.

Kellogg has been weighing spinoffs as a potential strategy since 2018, executives told investors on a conference call discussing the announcement on Tuesday. CEO Steve Cahillane said all three businesses have "significant" standalone potential, although the company is exploring alternatives including a potential sale for its plant-based business.

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