The board of directors at Kraft Foods intends to create two independent public companies: A high-growth global snacks business with estimated revenue of approximately $32 billion and a high-margin North American grocery business with estimated revenue of approximately $16 billion. The company expects to create these companies through a tax-free spin-off of the North American grocery business to Kraft Foods shareholders.
“As our second quarter results once again show, our businesses are benefiting from a virtuous cycle of growth and investment, which we fully expect will continue,” said Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld. “We have built two strong, but distinct, portfolios. Our strategic actions have put us in a position to create two great companies, each with the leadership, resources and strong market positions to realize their full potential. The next phase of our development recognizes the distinct priorities within our portfolio. The global snacks business has tremendous opportunities for growth as consumer demand for snacks increases around the world. The North American grocery business has a remarkable set of iconic brands, industry-leading margins, and the clear ability to generate significant cash flow.”
The company believes that creating two public companies would offer a number of opportunities, including:
- Each business would focus on its distinct strategic priorities, with financial targets that best fit its own markets and unique opportunities.
- Each would be able to allocate resources and deploy capital in a manner consistent with its strategic priorities in order to optimize total returns to shareholders.
- Investors would be able to value the two companies based on their particular operational and financial characteristics and thus invest accordingly.
Global snacks will consist of the current Kraft Foods Europe and Developing Markets units as well as the North American snacks and confectionery businesses. As an independent company, global snacks would have estimated revenues of approximately $32 billion and a strong growth profile across numerous fast-growing, attractive markets. The non-snacks portion of the portfolio would consist primarily of powdered beverages and coffee, which have a strong growth and margin profile in developing markets and Europe. Key brands would include Oreo and LU biscuits, Cadbury and Milka chocolates, Trident gum, Jacobs coffee, and Tang powdered beverages.
The North American grocery business would consist of the current U.S. Beverages, Cheese, Convenient Meals and Grocery segments and the non-snack categories in Canada and Food Service. Key brands would include Kraft macaroni and cheese, Oscar Mayer meats, Philadelphia cream cheese, Maxwell House coffee, Capri Sun beverages, Jell-O desserts and Miracle Whip salad dressing.
