Our financial sources suggest that some major snack food companies are ripe for consolidation, and the next target is very likely to be France’s Danone, best known for its yogurt products.
The company reported flat second-quarter sales, but on its earnings call last month suggested it would see growth in the second half.
“Someone is going to buy Danone,” said our tipster, who is following the space closely. “It could be bought by a Kraft or a Coke, and the French government would allow it,” the source speculated.
Danone’s CEO, rock-climbing enthusiast Emmanuel Faber, joined two years ago and has been remaking the firm as a healthy food purveyor. Faber has been an acquirer, too, snapping up WhiteWave, which makes Silk plant-based milk, for $12.5 billion last summer.