Someone's had enough of their Weetabix - Chinese food group sells up

Cereal brand Weetabix is set to be sold by China's Bright Food Group to US consumer company Post Holdings, as the breakfast product failed to fuel enough interest in the Chinese market.

Weetabix has been made in the UK since 1932, but Bright’s 60% stake in the brand was put up for sale in January off the back of poor performance in China.

Post Holdings has paid £1.4bn to buy the controlling stake of the cereal company, which was one of a series of UK firms taken over by Chinese investors in 2012. It was family-owned until 2004, when it was acquired by investment group Lion Capital.

Weetabix chief executive Giles Turrell said the company was excited to begin working with Post.

"Post is a leader within its markets and shares our commitment to providing great tasting nutritious products for the whole family. I'm confident they will help us open doors for continued expansion," Turrell said in a statement.

George Salmon, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said that the sale of Weetabix comes as no real surprise to most investors.

"It's also unsurprising to see one of the UK’s biggest cereal brands remain in foreign ownership, due to the pound’s weakness. UK-listed Associated British Foods was rumoured to have been interested in a deal, but any domestic buyers would have had to overcome the headwind of the pound’s reduced buying power," Salmon said.