(BFM Stock Exchange) – The action of WK Kellogg, specialist in boxing cereals in North America, burst 56.5% in post -market trade in Wall Street, Wednesday evening. The title reacted to information from the Wall Street Journal, reporting that the Italian Ferrero could buy the group for $ 3 billion.

Will the essential American company for breakfast go under Italian pavilion? Wednesday evening, the action of the company WK Kellogg, owner of cereals Kelloggs (Special K, Corn Pops, Frosties, Crispix), flew from 56.5% to Wall Street in post-cluster exchanges.

The action of the company founded in 1906 by Will Keith Kellogg, who had previously invented the Corn Flakes in 1894, reacted to information from the Wall Street Journal published in the evening.

The daily newspaper reported that the Nutella parent company, the Italian Ferrero, owned by the Ferrero family, was close to buying WK ​​Kellogg for an amount of $ 3 billion. The media does not specify if it is an upset or debt amount included.

In comparison, the market capitalization (the value of all the shares) of WK Kellogg is $ 1.5 billion in New York.

>> Access our exclusive graphic analyzes, and enter into the confidence of the trading portfolio

Growth breakdown

WK Kellogg came from the split in two companies from Kellogg Company in the fall of 2023. The company then side its cereal activity in boxes in North America under the name of WK Kellogg.

The company Kellogg Company had retained its cereal trades outside North America, snacks, with pringles chips, or even plant -based dishes (such as meat -free burgers). Kellogg Company then renamed Kellanova. Last year, the US Specialist in US FAIMS Mars, decided to buy Kellanova for $ 36 billion.

To return to WK Kellogg, the offensive loaned to Ferrero by the Wall Street Journal occurs when the company is faced with Severus a breakdown of growth. Last year his income fell 2% to 2.71 billion dollars, while its net profit dropped by 34.5%.

The trend accelerated in the first quarter of 2025, with a decline of 6.2%. The American company had also been forced to lower its growth targets for the current year, tabling on a withdrawal of 2% to 3%, against a drop of 1% previously.

Boxing cereals are a decrease market, cracked by a change in consumption on the part of Americans, which opt for more economical, faster, or even healthier choices, for their breakfast.

“The general passage to frozen food has increased the popularity and availability of protein-rich alternative options such as sandwiches and frozen burritos for breakfast. In addition, nomadic lifestyles have stimulated the demand for portable options such as cereal bars and milk-shakes,” wrote the Wall Street Journal in 2023.

A group “not very appetizing”

Ultimately, Kellogg’s split in WK Kellogg resulted in “a more indebted entity, without growth, in a decline category, which is not very appetizing”, underlined at the end of 2023, Bank of America.

“We do not see lasting competitive advantage in the autonomous activities of WK Kellogg,” said Morningstar last June.

“First of all, we believe that its leading position in terms of market share in the cereal department in North America is diluted, because the whole of its portfolio is in a category that is reduced. In our opinion, this harms its relations with distributors who strive to supply the shelves with key products for traffic,” continues the financial intermediary.

“In addition, unrelated to the branch of snacks which is experiencing faster growth (and which is now in Kellanova’s fold), WK Kellogg is found with low size, generating less than $ 3 billion in sales per year,” he concludes.

Ferrero, if this “deal” is confirmed, would continue his shopping in the United States. The Italian had bought Wells Enterprises in 2022, owner of the Blue Bunny brand. In 2018 Ferrero had previously swallowed American Nestlé confectionery activity for $ 2.8 billion.