A stack of Clif Bars and Clif Mojo Energy Bars manufactured by Clif Bar & Company isolated on a white background.
JacobVanHouten/Getty ImagesMondelez, the multinational snack company, will buy Emeryville-based Clif Bar best known for its energy bars that cluster at the bottom of a hiking backpack, for $2.9 billion.
Mondelez announce It plans to acquire Clif Bar on Monday, noting that the purchase price could rise depending on its financial performance through 2025 and 2026. The company is headquartered in Chicago and owns popular snack products such as Oreo, Cadbury, Ritz, Sour Patch Kids and Toblerone.
“Mondelez International is the right partner at the right time to support Clif in its next chapter of growth,” Clif Bar & Company CEO Sally Grimes said in a statement.
The deal comes 22 years after Clif Bar owner and co-founder Gary Erickson rejected an offer from Quaker Oats to buy the company for $120 million. While this deal would have made him and co-founder Lisa Thomas $60 million richer before taxes, he instead decided to buy Thomas’ stake and keep the ownership alongside his wife Kate Crawford. It was a smart move – Mondelez’s bid would send Ericsson and Crawford $1.53 billion, According to Forbes magazine. The spouses own 80% of the company and the remaining 20% are owned by its employees.
Clif Bar will continue to run out of its Emeryville headquarters and maintain production facilities in Indianapolis and Twin Falls, Idaho. Its deal with Mondelez is expected to expire later this year.