TreeHouse Food’s Battle Creek Factory Still Closing After Sale To Post

Despite the closure of Battle Creek’s TreeHouse Foods facility on McCamly St, the company will actually remain here in town.

Post Holdings announced this month that they were acquiring the Ready-to-eat cereal business of TreeHouse, with the deal expected to close in the third quarter of this year. The company expects to integrate the RTE cereal brand into their Post Consumer Brands business.

The details of the sale have not been disclosed, but TreeHouse Foods says their cereal business did about $260 Million in Sales in 2018. It's anticipated by Post management that the TreeHouse RTE cereal business will generate Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) of $15-20 million, with Post incurring $25-30 million in one time costs. They also expect to get a tax benefit of $14-16 million.

Even with the sale, the Battle Creek Enquirer says that production at the Battle Creek facility is still set to be transferred to the TreeHouse facility in Lancaster, Ohio; the Battle Creek plant is set to close starting at the end of June, with 75 employees being affected.

TreeHouse Foods moved to Battle Creek in 2016, when they acquired the facility from ConAgra Brands.