Aug 14 (Reuters) - Snickers-maker Mars inked one of the
biggest deals in the packaged food industry when it said it
would buy Cheez-It owner Kellanova in a $35.9 billion deal
on Wednesday.
    Dealmaking in the packaged food sector has been robust as
companies seek scale to weather the impact of price inflation
and weight-loss drugs weighing on demand.
    Here's a list of the biggest M&As in the industry over the
past few decades:
 Date    Merger
 Dec     Britain's Cadbury Schweppes Plc agreed to buy U.S.
 2002    sweet maker Adams, owner of Trident and Dentyne
         chewing gums and Halls cough drops, for $4.2 billion
         from drugmaker Pfizer        , making it the world's
         largest confectionary group.
 Nov     Kraft Foods completes its acquisition of
 30,     France-based Group Danone's global biscuit business
 2007    for 5.3 billion euros ($7.2 billion), including the
         LU family of brands, expanding the largest North
         American food maker's foothold in Europe and
         emerging markets.
 April   Mars created the world's largest confectionary
 29,     company with its $23 billion acquisition of chewing
 2008    gum manufacturer Wm Wrigley Jr Co. Combined, the two
         companies held 14.4% of the global confectionary
         market in 2006.
 Jan 5,  Nestle bought Kraft Foods' North American frozen
 2010    pizza business for $3.7 billion and ruled out an
         offer for Cadbury.
 Jan     Kraft Foods bought British candy maker Cadbury for
 19,     about $19.6 billion, creating the world's biggest
 2010    confectioner, and marking the largest European food
         and beverage deal on record, according to Thomson
         Reuters data.
 Aug 4,  Kraft Foods said it would spin-off its grocery
 2011    business to focus on its snacks unit, which was
         seeing strong growth in emerging markets. 
 April   Nestle bought U.S. drugmaker Pfizer's infant
 23,     nutrition business for $11.85 billion, beating out
 2012    French rival Danone as both sought to gain a strong
         foothold in the baby food market.
 Oct 1,  Kraft Foods completes the split of its business,
 2012    creating two separate companies. Mondelez
         International, a global snacks company, and Kraft
         Foods Group, which would be the North American
         grocery products firm.
 July    H.J. Heinz Co, backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire
 2,      Hathaway Inc, completed its purchase of Kraft Foods
 2015    Group Inc in a $46 billion deal, creating the
         third-largest food and beverage company in North
         America and fifth largest worldwide. 
             The new company, Kraft Heinz        , was
         expected to have about $28 billion of annual revenue
         from brands such as Oscar Mayer, Jell-O and Heinz
         ketchup.
 Aug     Mondelez International abandoned its pursuit to
 29,     acquire Reese's Peanut Butter Cups maker Hersheys
 2016            after the company turned down its $23
         billion cash-and-stock offer. The deal would have
         created the world's largest confectioner at the
         time, overtaking Mars.
 Jan     Swiss food group Nestle, also the world's biggest
 18,     packaged-food company, agreed to sell its U.S.
 2018    confectionery business to Italy's Ferrero, maker of
         Nutella spread and Ferrero Rocher, for $2.8 billion.
 Jan     Keurig Green Mountain struck a deal worth more than
 29,     $21 billion to combine with soda maker Dr Pepper
 2018    Snapple Group Inc to form a North American drinks
         company, Keurig Dr Pepper         
 Feb     Cheerios cereal maker General Mills         bought 
 23,     Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc for nearly $8 billion,
 2018    foraying into a fast-growing pet food market to
         counter declining sales of processed foods, as
         consumers turned more health conscious.
 Dec     Nestle SA agreed to sell its U.S. ice cream business
 11,     to Froneri in a deal valued at $4 billion, moving
 2019    control of brands including Häagen-Dazs to a joint
         venture the Swiss group set up in 2016.
 June    Cadbury parent Mondelez International bought energy
 21,     bar maker Clif Bar & Company for $2.9 billion, as
 2022    the company continued to consolidate its global
         presence. 
 April   Mondelez International          broadened its
 25,     presence in Mexico with a $1.3 billion purchase of
 2022    breadmaker Grupo Bimbo's             confectionery
         business, Ricolino.
 Dec     Mondelez sold its gum business, which housed brands
 19,     such as Trident and Dentyne, in developed markets to
 2022    European gum and confectionery maker and Mentos
         parent Perfetti Van Melle Group for $1.35 billion
 March   U.S. packaged food maker Campbell Soup        
 12,     completes the acquisition of Rao's Homemade-owner
 2024    Sovos Brands          in a $2.33-billion deal.
 Aug     Snickers-maker Mars buys Pringles owner Kellanova
 14,           in a nearly $36 billion deal.
 2024    
  Source: Company releases, Reuters articles

 (Reporting by Juveria Tabassum; Editing by Maju Samuel)