Kellogg Buys Brazilian Snack Company Parati

Kellogg Company on Wednesday announced its largest acquisition to date in Latin America with the purchase of Parati Group.

The Michigan-based cereal giant plans to acquire Ritmo Investimentos, the controlling shareholder of Parati, in an all-cash transaction worth an estimated $429 million.

Kellogg officials said that Parati offers "a wide range of iconic regional brands," including Parati, Pádua, Minueto, Zoo Cartoon and Hot Cracker biscuits, Trink powdered beverages, Parati Lamen instant noodles and Parati dried pasta.

Parati Group's 3,200 employees include a sales force of about 1,300 serving 60,000 direct customers — particularly crucial small and medium-sized retail locations.

The company also owns five distribution centers and two production facilities.

"Brazil is the largest economy in Latin America and this acquisition will allow us to accelerate our growth and improve our margins in the region," said Kellogg CEO John Bryant. "This means more growth for the core Parati Group business and our well-loved Kellogg brands."

Kellogg said the deal is its fourth acquisition in emerging markets over the past two years; the company emphasized global expansion as U.S. consumers increasingly turn away from cereals and other packaged foods.