Ronzoni pasta-maker coming to Lakeville in $880 million Post acquisition

Post Consumer Brands is already the nation’s top producer of store-brand cereal, but soon the Lakeville-based company will be king of generic peanut butter, granola and private-label pasta, too.

Parent company Post Holdings announced Tuesday that the St. Louis-based company will pay $880 million to buy back 8th Avenue Food & Provisions. 8th Avenue manufactures pasta, nut butters, granola, dried fruit and nuts primarily for grocery store brands and other private-label customers, and it will have its headquarters in Minnesota under Post Consumer Brands.

Post created 8th Avenue in an $870 million spinoff in 2018, when private equity took roughly 40% of the business while Post retained the rest. Since then, 8th Avenue has increased profitability and acquired the Ronzoni pasta brand, which is the second-best-selling pasta behind Barilla.

The $1.1 billion food manufacturer is the No. 1 seller of private-label granola and peanut butter and the No. 2 manufacturer of generic pasta in the U.S., according to an investor presentation. It has 10 manufacturing facilities, including a pasta factory in New Hope.

“With this acquisition, we further our strategy of tactical private-label positioning alongside leading brands,” Post CEO Rob Vitale said in a news release. “I am pleased to welcome back the approximately 1,580 employees of 8th Avenue who will join us as Post colleagues.”

The acquisition comes as Post — maker of Fruity Pebbles, Honey Bunches of Oats and Grape-Nuts — continues expanding beyond its flagship-but-fading cereal business.

Post has spent $1.4 billion acquiring pet food brands since 2023, including Nutrish, Kibbles ‘n Bits and Perfection Pet Foods.

Meanwhile, breakfast cereal remains a profitable-but-shrinking business for the nation’s third-largest cereal producer.

In April, Post announced it would close cereal plants in Nevada and Ontario by the end of the year, eliminating 300 jobs.

“The ready-to-eat cereal category continues to decline,” Post Consumer Brands CEO Nicolas Catoggio said in a news release. “To respond to this, we are reducing excess manufacturing capacity and optimizing our North American plant network to better utilize our production capacity.”

Granola is on the rise, however, and 11% of 8th Avenue’s sales come from it. The company is primarily focused on pasta and nut butters and expects $130 million in annual pre-tax profits as part of Post.

The deal is scheduled to close July 1.

Piper Sandler analyst Michael Lavery wrote that the acquisition comes at an “attractive” price, and “most importantly, the deal maintains flexibility for other future deals or buybacks.”