General Mills, Inc.
Acquisitions
5
Major Deals Covered
$22.0B
Disclosed Deal Value
General Mills's largest disclosed acquisition here is Pillsbury for $10.5B in 2001. This page covers 5 major deals from 2001 to 2025, each with its price where disclosed and the reason behind it.
| Company | Year | Price | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pillsbury | 2001 | $10.5B | General Mills bought Pillsbury from Diageo in a stock-and-debt deal valued at about $10.5 billion, adding Pillsbury refrigerated dough, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Progresso and Haagen-Dazs. |
| Blue Buffalo | 2018 | $8.0B | General Mills made its largest acquisition ever by purchasing Blue Buffalo, the leading natural pet food brand in the United States, to enter the fast-growing premium pet food market. Pet food was experiencing structural growth driven by pet humanization trends that consumers were trading up from commodity pet food to premium and natural options. |
| Annie's Homegrown | 2014 | $820.0M | General Mills acquired Annie's Homegrown, the natural and organic food brand best known for its macaroni and cheese, to establish a credible presence in the organic food segment without launching entirely new brands. Annie's had strong household recognition and distribution in natural and conventional grocery channels. |
| Tyson Foods pet treats business | 2022 | $1.2B | Added Nudges, Top Chews and True Chews pet treats to the Pet segment. |
| Whitebridge Pet Brands | 2025 | $1.4B | Acquired Edgard & Cooper and Tiki Pets to add premium cat food and European pet presence. |
2025
$1.4B
Acquired Edgard & Cooper and Tiki Pets to add premium cat food and European pet presence.
Contributed to cat-food growth in North America Pet and International.
Raised leverage to about 4.1x net debt to EBITDA alongside the yogurt divestitures.
2022
$1.2B
Added Nudges, Top Chews and True Chews pet treats to the Pet segment.
Expanded General Mills in pet treats.
Integrated into North America Pet.
2018
$8.0B
General Mills made its largest acquisition ever by purchasing Blue Buffalo, the leading natural pet food brand in the United States, to enter the fast-growing premium pet food market. Pet food was experiencing structural growth driven by pet humanization trends that consumers were trading up from commodity pet food to premium and natural options.
Blue Buffalo became the core of a new Pet segment and brought General Mills into pet-specialty and online channels such as PetSmart, Petco and Chewy.
Pet sales grew after the deal, but in fiscal 2026 General Mills recorded a $1.5 billion goodwill impairment on North America Pet, and dog food declined in early fiscal 2027.
2014
$820M
General Mills acquired Annie's Homegrown, the natural and organic food brand best known for its macaroni and cheese, to establish a credible presence in the organic food segment without launching entirely new brands. Annie's had strong household recognition and distribution in natural and conventional grocery channels.
Annie's gave General Mills a natural and organic brand across mac and cheese, snacks and other categories.
Annie's remains part of North America Retail.
2001
$10.5B
General Mills bought Pillsbury from Diageo in a stock-and-debt deal valued at about $10.5 billion, adding Pillsbury refrigerated dough, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Progresso and Haagen-Dazs.
The deal roughly doubled General Mills' size and made it one of the largest U.S. packaged-food companies.
Pillsbury dough, Old El Paso and Progresso remain core brands; General Mills later sold Green Giant to B&G Foods in 2015 and its European dough business.
Under its 'Accelerate' strategy, General Mills is reshaping the portfolio toward pet food and away from slower categories. It bought Blue Buffalo in 2018 for about $8 billion, Tyson's pet treats business in 2022 and Whitebridge Pet Brands (Edgard & Cooper and Tiki Pets) in 2025, while selling its U.S. yogurt business to Lactalis and its Canadian yogurt business to Sodiaal in 2025. Near-term growth levers are price-value investments, more new products (about 5% of net sales in Q1 fiscal 2027 versus 3% two years earlier), protein-forward renovation, e-commerce and growth in International markets such as China and India.
General Mills makes money by manufacturing branded foods and selling them wholesale to retailers, distributors and foodservice operators, then supporting those brands with advertising, promotions and new product launches. It reports four segments: North America Retail (cereal, snacks, baking, meals and refrigerated dough sold through U.S. and Canadian grocers, mass merchants, clubs and e-commerce), North America Pet (Blue Buffalo plus pet treats and the Whitebridge brands), North America Foodservice (schools, restaurants, convenience stores and bakeries) and International. It also earns equity income from joint ventures, chiefly Cereal Partners Worldwide with Nestle and Haagen-Dazs Japan. Management said e-commerce reached about 20% of human-food sales and 30% of pet-food sales in Q1 fiscal 2027.
In April 2018, General Mills acquired Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc. for $8.0 billion in cash, marking the largest acquisition in General Mills' history. The deal established General Mills' high-growth Pet segment, giving it the #1 natural pet food brand in America.
In November 2001, General Mills acquired The Pillsbury Company from Diageo for $10.5 billion. The mega-acquisition brought well-known brands including Pillsbury refrigerated dough, Totino's pizza, Green Giant vegetables, Old El Paso Mexican foods, and international rights to Häagen-Dazs ice cream.
In October 2014, General Mills acquired organic macaroni and cheese and snack leader Annie's, Inc. for $820 million. Annie's expanded General Mills' leadership in certified organic and non-GMO natural foods, extending the brand into organic cereals, fruit snacks, and condiments.
In July 2021, General Mills acquired the pet treats business of Tyson Foods for $1.2 billion in cash, adding leading natural meat pet treat brands Nudges, Top Chews, and True Chews to the Blue Buffalo portfolio.
General Mills actively pruned non-core assets: divesting Green Giant frozen vegetables to B&G Foods ($765M in 2015), selling its European dough business (2021), divesting Helper main-meal mixes and Suddenly Salad to Eagle Family Foods ($610M in 2022), and divesting regional yogurt brands.
In 2023, General Mills acquired vet-created pet health and broad supplement company Fera Pets, launching its newly formed growth equity unit and entering the high-margin pet wellness and supplement category.
General Mills built its diversified empire through strategic acquisitions including snack food leader Bugles (1964), Mexican food brand Old El Paso (via Pillsbury), Yoplait yogurt licensing and majority ownership (1977 and 2011), and Nature Valley granola.
General Mills focuses strategic M&A on high-growth, high-margin bolt-on acquisitions in premium pet nutrition, healthy snacking, functional wellness foods, and direct-to-consumer pet health platforms that accelerate its Long-Range Plan.
In 2001, they executed a massive $10.5 billion acquisition of Pillsbury, securing absolute dominance over refrigerated dough. In 2014, they bought Annie's Homegrown for $820M to capture the organic market. In 2018, they executed their most transformative deal: buying Blue Buffalo pet food for $8 billion.
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