WILMER, Texas — Read this story and more North Texas business news from our partners at the Dallas Business Journal
The food manufacturing giant known for Fruity Pebbles, Honeycomb cereal and Honey Bunches of Oats turned to a growing city near Dallas to ramp up its distribution abilities in what is likely DFW's largest industrial deal of the year.
Minnesota-based Post Consumer Brands, a division of Post Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POST), plans to open a distribution center in Wilmer later in 2024, the company said in an April 9 statement to Dallas Business Journal.
"As our business expands through acquisitions, including the recent addition of several pet food brands, we’re continually evaluating our distribution network to optimize service for our customers," said Matt Engel, senior director of distribution of Post Consumer Brands.
A Post spokesperson would not confirm the exact location. However, in a just-released DFW industrial market report, commercial real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield tied "Post Foods," the former name of Post Consumer Brands, to a 1.1 million-square-foot lease signed in January for the entirety of Building 1 in Xebec Realty's newly completed Logistix Hub at 1301 Southport Parkway. Brandon Wood of Corporate Realty Advisors, who represented Post, confirmed the lease April 10.
The building, one of four planned for the site, is directly across Interstate 45 from the Union Pacific Intermodal Yard.
The deal is the largest industrial lease so far in the region in 2024, according to CoStar Group Inc. researchers, who confirmed the lease but not that Post is the tenant. Trapper Graff of CBRE represented the landlord, according to CoStar data.
Rona Stringfellow, economic development director for the city of Wilmer, said she is "unable to confirm or deny the information."
About 15 miles southeast of downtown Dallas, Wilmer has become a hub for warehouses and distribution centers for companies including Procter & Gamble, Amazon, Unilever, Whirlpool and Smuckers, according to the Wilmer Economic Development Corp. website.
Post Holdings is based in St. Louis, but the Post Consumer Brands division that runs Post's cereal and pet food operations is based in Lakeville, Minnesota. Over the past few years, the company has made billions in acquisitions involving major brands and associated manufacturing facilities.
Post Holdings recorded $2 billion in net sales in the last calendar quarter of 2023, according to a quarterly earnings report.
In recent years, packaged foods giants such as Post and General Mills Inc. have made big-dollar acquisitions in the pet food sector, a reliable source of growth because pet owners have been willing to spend on premium foods for their dogs and cats.
Post Consumer Brands said in October that it agreed to acquire the assets of Perfection Pet Foods for $235 million. And earlier in 2023, Post announced plans to buy pet food brands from J.M. Smucker Co. for $1.2 billion, which included the Rachael Ray Nutrish, Nature’s Recipe, 9Lives, Kibbles ‘n Bits and Gravy Train dog and cat food brands.
The Post Consumer Brands division has been growing since it acquired MOM Brands, the makers of Malt-O-Meal, in 2015 for more than $1 billion. Post Holdings' businesses also include Weetabix, maker of the U.K.'s top selling ready-to-eat cereal brand; and Michael Foods and Bob Evans Farms, which make refrigerated foods including egg and potato side dishes.
Editor's note: This story was updated to correct the landlord and tenant representatives for the deal and to confirm the location of the Post facility.