Heartland Food Products Group, a producer and marketer of low calorie sweeteners, drink mixes, coffee, and nutritional beverages for consumer markets, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Splenda low-calorie sweetener brand from McNeil Nutritionals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson Consumer. The acquisition is only for the retail brand Splenda; Tate & Lyle owns the rights for Splenda ingredients. The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
“We are very excited about our opportunity to own the Splenda brand business and welcome a talented team of professionals to our organization. Splenda fits well within our strategy to offer the very best tasting products to sweeten foods and beverages without adding calories,” said Ted Gelov, Heartland chairman and CEO.
The acquisition of Splenda is expected to provide over 100 new jobs across the Indianapolis manufacturing plant, distribution center, and Carmel, Indiana, corporate office. The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2015.
