Weetabix to be sold to US company Post Holdings

British cereal maker Weetabix is to be sold to a US company, it has been confirmed.

A spokesman for Bright Food Group, a Chinese company, said it has agreed to sell the iconic brand to Post Holdings (Frankfurt: A1JS25 - news) for £1.4bn.

Bright (Taiwan OTC: 5244.TWO - news) has owned Weetabix since 2012, when it took over from Lion Capital.

Shanghai-based Bright spokesman Pan Jianjun said: "This is a part of our internationalisation strategy.

"Selling assets enables us to better expand. Going forward Bright will stick to our overseas push."

Earlier this month, Sky (Frankfurt: 893517 - news) 's City Editor Mark Kleinman reported that Post Holdings, America's third-largest cereal producer, was trying to clinch the takeover of Weetabix, a royal warrant holding food company that makes some of Britain's most popular breakfast products.

Weetabix is minority owned by Baring Private Equity Asia, reflecting the company's efforts to build a strong presence in China and other markets in the Far East (Kuala Lumpur: 5029.KL - news) .

The British brand has made efforts to broaden its business amid declining sales in the breakfast cereal segment of the food market.

It has had mixed success since launching a range of drink and cereal bar products in recent years, although it insists that its geographical diversification has paid off.

In the UK, Weetabix is the second-largest cereal maker behind the US food company Kellogg (Hamburg: 944624.HM - news) 's.

In recent months, it has been hit by the weakness of sterling, and like many food producers has raised prices as a consequence.

Weetabix has also faced a period of employee unrest, although it announced a £30m investment in two UK manufacturing sites in January.

George Salmon, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown (Frankfurt: DMB.F - news) , said it was not surprising that one of the UK's largest cereal brands remained in foreign ownership, due to the pound's weakness.

He added: "UK-listed Associated British Foods (LSE: ABF.L - news) was rumoured to have been interested in a deal, but any domestic buyers would have had to overcome the headwind of the pound's reduced buying power.

"In contrast, the dollar's recent strength has helped the successful bidder, US consumer group Post Holdings."

Weetabix has not commented on the sale.