Q3 2026 Food Industry M&A Roundup: Protein, Snacks, and Grocery Changed Hands

Key takeaways:

• Chicken drove the quarter’s protein deals. Hormel agreed to buy Brakebush for about $1.055 billion, and JBS proposed taking full ownership of Pilgrim’s Pride.
• Intersnack is taking Utz private, at an enterprise value of about $2.9 billion and a 91% premium, marking the largest Q3 deal.
• Hain Celestial and Keurig Dr Pepper both sold assets to pay down debt, Hain its international brands and KDP its stake in Chobani.

Q3 traded megadeals for portfolio moves

Q2 belonged to the megadeals. McCormick’s $44.8 billion combination with Unilever Foods and Sysco’s pending purchase of Restaurant Depot were unmatched this summer. The largest Q3 deal we could verify, Intersnack’s agreement to take Utz private, has an enterprise value of about $2.9 billion.

But smaller doesn’t diminish the impact. Q3’s deals fell into three categories: 

• Large companies sold what no longer fit, with Hain Celestial and Keurig Dr Pepper all cutting businesses or stakes. 
• Protein buyers went after further processing. Hormel’s Brakebush deal and Pilgrim’s Europe’s purchase of Walkers Deli & Sausage both bring value-added capacity. 
• Consolidation also reached the grocery shelf and the testing lab. Kroger agreed to buy Giant Eagle and Mérieux NutriSciences agreed to buy Certified Group.

Intersnack and the Utz family take a century-old snack maker private

On July 21, Utz Brands and Intersnack Group announced a deal to take Utz private at $14.25 per share in cash. That’s a premium of about 91% over Utz’s July 20 closing price and an enterprise value of about $2.9 billion. After closing, Intersnack and the Rice and Lissette family, Utz’s founding family, will each own half the company. Financing includes about $920 million of Intersnack cash and a new $1.1 billion term loan. The parties expect to close in the fourth quarter, pending regulatory approval and stockholder votes that include a majority of disinterested holders.

Intersnack started as a German potato chip producer in 1968 and is now based in Düsseldorf. It reports roughly $5 billion in annual sales across 31 countries, with brands such as Tyrrells, Hula Hoops, and Tayto. Its operations span Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, which makes Utz, home to Zapp’s, On The Border, and Boulder Canyon, a ready-made North American platform.

While the valuation premium seems high, it’s best to evaluate it relative to Utz’s financial performance. Utz reported $1.44 billion in 2025 net sales and $216.5 million in adjusted EBITDA. The deal values Utz at about 2.0 times sales and 13.4 times adjusted EBITDA. The 91% premium reflects how depressed Utz’s valuation had become in the public market.

Board chair Dylan Lissette, who becomes executive chair after closing, called Intersnack “a like-minded partner with similar family heritage.” Utz CEO Howard Friedman highlighted Intersnack’s marketing, manufacturing, and technology capabilities. 

Ingredient, packaging, and co-manufacturing partners should take note. A global operator applying its manufacturing playbook to a new platform often prompts a complete reassessment of sourcing and plant practices.

Hormel pays about $1 billion to bulk up in value-added chicken

Hormel closed out the quarter on September 30 with a definitive agreement to buy Brakebush for about $1.055 billion. Founded in 1925 and still family-owned, the Westfield, Wisconsin, company generated roughly $1.2 billion in net sales over the last 12 months. It runs five production facilities in Wisconsin, North Carolina, Texas, Minnesota, and Georgia, plus two R&D labs, and sells to national and regional foodservice operators. Hormel expects to close in the first quarter of its fiscal 2027 and to see the deal add to adjusted earnings per share starting in fiscal 2028.

Brakebush describes itself as a non-vertically integrated chicken provider, so its value is in further processing and customer relationships rather than raising birds. Hormel says the deal will strengthen its foodservice business with deeper operator relationships, category expertise, and a larger direct sales force. John Ghingo, Hormel’s president and CEO-elect, called chicken “one of the most attractive growth categories in protein.”

Based on calculations, Hormel is paying about 0.9 times Brakebush’s trailing sales. Neither company disclosed Brakebush’s margins, so the multiple is a rough gauge, but still a useful benchmark for owners of processing businesses. A 100-year-old platform with national foodservice customers sold for less than a year of revenue.

The JBS family consolidates poultry and pork

On August 18, JBS made a non-binding proposal to buy the Pilgrim’s Pride shares it doesn’t yet own. JBS holds about 82% of Pilgrim’s and offered 2.086 of its Class A shares for each remaining share, a ratio based on the companies’ August 18 closing prices of $13.66 and $28.49. That’s almost exactly on Pilgrim’s closing price, so the offer carried little to no premium when it was made. 

JBS says a combined company would have a simpler structure without the costs of a separate listing. A special committee of independent Pilgrim’s directors and a majority of unaffiliated shareholders would have to approve it.

The day before, Pilgrim’s Europe agreed to buy Walkers Deli & Sausage Company from Samworth Brothers. Walkers dates to 1824 and makes premium sausages, sliced cooked meats, cooked bacon, snacks, and pâté, much of it own-label for major UK retailers. About 1,150 people work at its four production facilities on a single site in Leicester, England. Pilgrim’s already supplies Walkers with raw pork, so the deal brings a customer in-house. It still needs clearance from the UK Competition and Markets Authority.

Pilgrim’s CEO Fabio Sandri said the Walkers deal “expands our capabilities in value-added foods.”

Kroger returns to grocery M&A with Giant Eagle

On July 1, Kroger agreed to acquire Giant Eagle for $1.65 billion, made up of $1.25 billion in cash and about $400 million in assumed liabilities. The family-owned Pittsburgh grocer, founded in 1931, runs 197 supermarkets and 11 standalone pharmacies across northern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and Indiana, with about $9 billion in annual sales. The companies expect limited store divestitures to satisfy regulators and a close in 2027.

The deal arrives less than two years after a federal court, at the FTC’s request, halted Kroger’s $24.6 billion Albertsons merger in December 2024. Giant Eagle is a far smaller, regional bet. Kroger CEO Greg Foran called it a move into “attractive adjacent markets,” and the company expects it to add to adjusted earnings per share in the second full year after closing.

Brands that sell to both chains will eventually negotiate with one buyer. Kroger’s release also credits Giant Eagle’s reputation for fresh products, pharmacy, and private label, so brands that compete with Giant Eagle’s store brands should watch how Kroger handles that program after closing.

Hain and KDP sell assets to cut debt

On September 14, Hain Celestial agreed to sell its international business to private equity firm Aurelius for an estimated $323 million in cash. The deal covers Ella’s Kitchen, Joya, Hartley’s, Linda McCartney Foods, New Covent Garden, and several other brands, and Hain expects $305 million to $310 million in net proceeds for debt reduction. What’s left is a North American portfolio led by Celestial Seasonings, The Greek Gods, and Earth’s Best Organic. The sale also depends on Hain’s lenders. It requires a credit agreement amendment that extends Hain’s maturity past December 22, 2026, and Aurelius can walk away if Hain doesn’t secure it within 30 days of signing.

Keurig Dr Pepper sold a stake instead of a brand. KDP agreed to sell its full equity stake in Chobani back to the company for $800 million and to hand over its Allentown, Pennsylvania, facility lease, equipment, and operations for about $125 million. KDP plans to use the proceeds to cut debt ahead of its planned separation into two companies, Beverage Co. and Global Coffee Co. 

Chobani, for its part, plans to invest $1.2 billion over five years in the 1.5-million-square-foot site, with up to 10 production lines for high-protein milk, shakes, and new dairy formats. Chobani will also keep making some products for KDP there under a co-manufacturing agreement.

KDP is clearing the way for a planned split, while Hain is working against a lender deadline. Portfolio decisions go better when the company, and not its creditors, sets the timeline.

Better-for-you and deli brands keep finding strategic buyers

On August 14, Ferrero agreed to acquire Purely Elizabeth, the Boulder, Colorado, maker of granola, oatmeal, and cereal founded in 2009. According to Ferrero, the brand “more than doubled its sales in the past two years,” and founder Elizabeth Stein will stay on as CEO. 

The deal builds on Ferrero’s 2025 acquisition of WK Kellogg Co and adds a better-for-you brand to its growing U.S. breakfast business. Lapo Civiletti, president of Ferrero Ice Cream and WK Kellogg Co, said the move reflects a strategy “to invest in high-growth categories.” Terms weren’t disclosed, and Ferrero expects to close in the coming months.

Sargento took a bigger step outside its core. The company, founded in 1953 in Plymouth, Wisconsin, with $1.7 billion in net sales, agreed on July 30 to acquire La Terra Fina, which it calls “a category leader in premium dips, spreads, and quiches.” The deal puts Sargento in the deli department of grocery retailers nationwide. La Terra Fina employs about 250 people in Union City, California. Neither private company disclosed terms. The deal was expected to close in late September.

For independent brands in granola, dips, and spreads, both deals add a well-funded competitor with national reach.

Food testing consolidation continues

Mérieux NutriSciences agreed on August 18 to acquire Certified Group, a Warburg Pincus-backed network of 31 North American laboratories with about $300 million in revenue. Certified serves food and beverage; cosmetics, over-the-counter drugs, and supplements; and reduced-harm nicotine products. Mérieux says the combination brings it closer to customers, “meeting localized, time-sensitive needs.” It didn’t disclose a price and expects to close by the last quarter of 2026.

This is Mérieux’s second big testing deal in two years. In October 2024, it agreed to buy Bureau Veritas’ food testing business, a 34-lab operation, for an enterprise value of €360 million. Mérieux now counts more than 140 accredited labs and 10,000 employees, and it pegs the North American food testing, inspection, and certification market at more than $2.5 billion.

For quality and food safety leaders, a change in lab ownership can ripple into pricing, turnaround times, and reporting formats. If Certified handles your testing, review your contract terms before integration begins.

What Q4 may bring

The four big deals from our Q2 roundup are still pending as far as we can verify. McCormick now expects its Unilever Foods combination to close by mid 2027. Tate & Lyle shareholders approved Ingredion’s offer on July 28, with completion expected in the second half of 2027, pending antitrust approvals and court sanction. Sysco still targets the third quarter of its fiscal 2027 to close Restaurant Depot. That deal picked up political opposition in late August, when Sens. Cory Booker and Tammy Baldwin urged the FTC to review it and Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Maxwell Frost called for a DOJ and FTC antitrust investigation. Puratos and Dawn Foods still expect to close by the end of 2026.

Several Q3 deals could close soon, too. Utz and Certified Group both expect Q4 closings, and Hain aims to finish its international sale by December 31 if the lender amendment and regulatory approvals come through. Hormel expects Brakebush to close in its fiscal first quarter of 2027. JBS’s Pilgrim’s proposal still needs a special committee’s blessing before it becomes a definitive agreement.

Heading into Q4, food M&A is about focus. Sellers are shedding what doesn’t fit, and buyers are paying for processing capacity, customer relationships, and adjacent categories they can’t build quickly on their own.