Giant food company ConAgra is getting a little more giant. It’s agreed to buy private-label food producer Ralcorp for about $4.95 billion.
You may not know much about ConAgra, but you’ve probably eaten it for breakfast, lunch or dessert. The many brands they own include Egg Beaters, Chef Boyardee, Orville Redenbacher, and Reddi-wip.
Now that ConAgra is buying Ralcorp, you can add to that list: Krusteaz frozen pancakes, RyKrisp crackers, and lots of generic brands sold under private supermarket labels. It’s those generic brands that made Ralcorp especially alluring, says Kate Warren, investment strategist for Edward Jones.
“In this environment where so many families are really finding the budget tight, moving down to the grocery store label brand is going to be something that we see more families do, and ConAgra is positioning itself very well in that marketplace,” she says.
ConAgra’s acquisition of Ralcorp is set to create one of the largest packaged-food companies in North America.
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