Post Holdings to pay $1.15B for Malt-O-Meal cereal maker

ST. LOUIS — Post Holdings will spend $1.15 billion to bulk up its presence in the market for bagged and hot cereals by buying the privately held MOM Brands Co., maker of Malt-O-Meal cereals.

Post said Monday it will pay $1.05 billion in cash and give MOM Brands owners nearly 2.5 million shares of stock for the acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter.

MOM Brands’ product portfolio includes branded, ready-to-eat cereals as well as hot wheat and oatmeal products. Its cereals include Golden Puffs, Frosted Mini Spooners and Cinnamon Toasters. The company is based in Lakeville, Minnesota.

Post Holdings Inc. plans to finance most of the deal and sell about $240 million in stock, subject to market conditions.

Post, which is based in St. Louis, also makes nutrition drinks and a variety of store-brand products including pasta and peanut butter. It said Monday that it expects about $1.07 billion in revenue for the fiscal quarter that ended Dec. 31. That includes some results from the company’s acquisitions of the PowerBar and Musashi brands as well as American Blanching Co.

That forecast matches Wall Street expectations, according to the data firm FactSet.

Shares of Post Holdings closed at $41.44 on Friday and have fallen about 25 percent over the past year.