Today, America is one step closer to ketchup-flavored macaroni and cheese — or perhaps Oscar Mayer bologna-flavored ketchup. Heinz co-owners Warren Buffett and 3G Capital announced this morning that they’re buying Kraft for an estimated $40 billion, a merger deal that will create the third-largest food company in America, and the fifth largest in the world.
Together, eight of the new megacompany’s combined brands — including Oscar Mayer lunch meats, Planters nuts, Bagel Bites, Maxwell House Coffee, Jell-O, Kraft Singles, and Kool-Aid — will be worth more than $1 billion.
It seems that Buffett is in a collaborative mood: As you might recall, he was responsible for the deal between Tim Hortons and Burger King, which created the third-largest quick-service restaurant company in the world. What’s next: Coca-Cola and Pepsi? (After all, Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has a small stake in the former.)