---
title: "H.J. Heinz → Kraft Foods Group"
url: "https://mahouse.world/ma-deals/kraft-foods-group-buy-h-j-heinz-2015"
type: "M&A deal"
year: "2015"
---

# H.J. Heinz → Kraft Foods Group

The 2015 merger of Kraft Foods Group with H.J. Heinz, which 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway had taken private two years earlier, created Kraft Heinz, the world's fifth-largest food and beverage company; four years later it wrote down the Kraft and Oscar Mayer brands by $15.4bn, and in 2025 it proposed splitting itself in two.

Backed by 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway to form Kraft Heinz, which wrote down $15bn of those brands in 2019.

- **Acquirer:** H.J. Heinz (United States)
- **Target:** Kraft Foods Group (United States)
- **Value:** $46B
- **Announced:** March 2015
- **Completed:** July 2015
- **Sector:** Consumer
- **Deal type:** merger

## Why it mattered

The idea came from 3G Capital: in January 2015 its managing partner, Alex Behring, proposed the combination to Kraft's new chief executive, John Cahill. The terms announced on 25 March 2015 made Heinz the senior partner. Heinz's owners took 51% of the combined company and Kraft's shareholders 49%, plus a special cash dividend of $16.50 a share — 27% of Kraft's closing price the day before — paid for by a $10bn equity injection from Berkshire and 3G. Heinz's chief executive, Bernardo Hees, would run the group, Behring would chair it and it would have headquarters in both Pittsburgh and the Chicago area. The combined business had about $28bn of revenue and eight brands with sales above $1bn each, and the partners promised $1.5bn of annual cost savings by the end of 2017, while Berkshire and 3G described themselves as committed long-term owners. The merger was completed on 2 July 2015.

## What it left behind

In February 2017 Kraft Heinz made a $143bn approach for Unilever that was rejected and dropped within two days. In February 2019 it wrote down the Kraft and Oscar Mayer brands by $15.4bn, cut its dividend and disclosed an SEC investigation; the shares lost $16bn of value the next morning, and in 2021 it paid $62m to settle the SEC's investigation into $200m of improperly claimed savings, restating its results for 2015 to 2018. 3G had sold its stake by April 2024. Net sales were $24.9bn in fiscal 2025, below the $28bn the two companies had brought together. A plan announced in September 2025 to split into two listed companies was paused by the board on 11 February 2026, and in May 2026 the company said its timing and completion remained uncertain. A merger paid for by cost cuts depends on brands that keep their value; when they do not, the savings plan turns into write-downs.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraft_Heinz