KIND Announces Acquisition of Better-for-You Snacking Company Nature's Bakery

Deal will accelerate KIND's vision to build foremost health & wellness platform as a separate business within Mars

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Dec 02, 2020, 07:30 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, KIND, a healthy snacking leader, announced it has entered an agreement to acquire Nature's Bakery, a family-owned company that offers wholesome & delicious snacks, such as its beloved Fig Bars and other soft-baked foods. This partnership will extend Mars' portfolio of businesses in the health & wellness space and build on KIND and Mars' shared vision to build out a platform of brands and products that make wholesome snacking choices more readily available to people everywhere.

Nature's Bakery Logo

Founded in 2011, Nature's Bakery was built on a promise to always deliver better-for-you snacks that taste as good as they make you feel. The company bakes its own bars with recipes that prioritize real, simple and wholesome ingredients like sun-ripened fruit and hearty whole grains to create snacks that are plant-based, nut-free, dairy-free, and 100% Non-GMO Project Verified. Nature's Bakery's soft-baked, nut-free favorites will be a differentiated and complementary offering to KIND's existing portfolio, whose first ingredient is a nutritionally dense food such as whole nuts, whole grains or whole fruit. Together, the brands' unique offerings will satisfy a broader range of nutritional needs, dietary restrictions, and taste preferences. This planned transaction advances KIND's commitment to create a foremost health & wellness platform as a separate business within Mars.

"If you look at pantries across the country, odds are you will find KIND and Nature's Bakery products sitting side-by-side," said Daniel Lubetzky, Founder and Executive Chairman of KIND. "Both brands have created loyal followings by being true to their unique value propositions. It comes as no surprise that, along with KIND, they remain one of the growth leaders within the snack bar category. We are excited to welcome them to the KIND family and support the team's next chapter as part of our growing health & wellness platform."

"We know consumers love our soft-baked snacks, and this is a unique opportunity to introduce even more families to our full portfolio of snacks, baked with the nourishing ingredients and delicious recipes we have always been known for," said Chris Lansing, Chief Executive Officer of Nature's Bakery.

"As a multi-generational family of bakers, we sought to create a company committed to making wholesome snacking accessible to active families everywhere. Nature's Bakery will benefit from continued reach and expansion of this vision through its partnership with KIND," said Dave Marson, founder of Nature's Bakery.

Chris Lansing will continue as Chief Executive Officer of Nature's Bakery reporting into Juan Martin, Global President for KIND. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

Advisors

BofA Securities served as KIND's financial advisor. Goodwin Procter LLP acted as KIND's legal advisor.
William Blair & Company served as Nature's Bakery's financial advisor. Cooley LLP acted as Nature's Bakery's legal advisor.

About KIND
Since 2004, KIND has been on a mission to create a kinder and healthier world – one snack and one act at a time. Its iconic KIND® bars – made with real, recognizable ingredients – sparked the growth of an entirely new healthy snacking category. Today, KIND has a family of more than 100 snacks that offer solutions for a variety of occasions. All of KIND's products lead with a nutrient-dense first ingredient – whole nuts, whole grains or whole fruit – and do not contain genetically engineered ingredients, sugar alcohols or artificial sweeteners.

Inspired by the belief that acts of kindness can be a transformative force for good, both the KIND brand and The KIND Foundation seek to inspire kindness and empathy. KIND was founded by Daniel Lubetzky. To learn more about KIND, please visit www.kindsnacks.com and join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

About Nature's Bakery
Nature's Bakery believes that simple, wholesome snacks are the best fuel for active, joyful lives. Founded in 2011, the family-owned bakery soft bakes the goodness of real, wholesome ingredients like sun-ripened fruit and hearty whole grains into snacks that are plant-based, nut-free, dairy-free, and 100% Non-GMO Project Verified. Thoughtfully baked to make better-for-you snacking a deliciously easy choice that appeals to the whole family, Nature's Bakery products include Whole Wheat Fig Bars, Gluten Free Fig Bars, Oatmeal Crumble Bars and Double Chocolate Brownie Bars. For more information, visit www.NaturesBakery.com or follow the brand on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

About Mars, Incorporated
For more than a century, Mars, Incorporated has been driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. This idea is at the center of who we have always been as a global, family-owned business. Today, Mars is transforming, innovating and evolving in ways that affirm our commitment to making a positive impact on the world around us.

Across our diverse and expanding portfolio of confectionery, food, and petcare products and services, we employ 133,000 dedicated Associates who are all moving in the same direction: forward. With $40 billion in annual sales, we produce some of the world's best-loved brands including DOVE®, EXTRA®, M&M's®, MILKY WAY®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, ORBIT®, PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, SKITTLES®, BEN'S ORIGINAL™, WHISKAS®, COCOAVIA®, and 5™; and take care of half of the world's pets through our pet health services AniCura, Banfield Pet Hospitals™, BluePearl®, Linnaeus, Pet Partners™, and VCA™.

We know we can only be truly successful if our partners and the communities in which we operate prosper as well. The Mars Five Principles – Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom – inspire our Associates to take action every day to help create a world tomorrow in which the planet, its people and pets can thrive. For more information about Mars, please visit www.mars.com. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

SOURCE KIND Healthy Snacks