Mars is a family-owned company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, United States that owns 32 consumer brands across 2 categories, and has 6 recorded transactions.[1]
Mars is one of the largest privately held companies in the world, owned by the Mars family since Frank Mars began making sweets in Tacoma in 1911. It publishes no financial statements. Its four segments are snacking, pet nutrition, food and Mars Wrigley, and it agreed to acquire Kellanova in 2024.
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Full-screen interactive tree → · Download as infographic
Mars agreed to acquire Kellanova for $83.50 per share in cash, which would add Pringles and Cheez-It to Mars Snacking and rank among the largest packaged food deals ever. The transaction required clearance in multiple jurisdictions.
Mars took full ownership of KIND, having held a minority stake since 2017. The snack bar company had built its position on visible whole ingredients through a transparent wrapper, and its founder stayed on to lead it.
Mars renamed Uncle Ben's to Ben's Original and removed the image of an elderly Black man from the packaging, after criticism during the 2020 racial justice protests that the branding drew on a servant stereotype.
Mars acquired VCA Inc., the largest chain of veterinary hospitals in the United States, for about $9.1 billion including debt. Mars already owned Banfield, and the combination made the largest pet food company in the world also the largest provider of veterinary care.
Mars acquired the IAMS and Eukanuba pet food brands from Procter & Gamble for about $2.9 billion, covering North America and several other markets. Spectrum Brands bought the European rights separately, so the brands have different owners by territory.
Mars acquired the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company for $80 a share in cash, financed in part by Berkshire Hathaway and Goldman Sachs. The deal created Mars Wrigley and made Mars the largest confectionery company in the world.
No tagged news items yet. Headlines are added nightly from public feeds; only titles and links are stored.
Headlines link to the original publisher. Brandtree does not reproduce article text.
Mars owns 32 consumer brands tracked here, including Juicy Fruit, IAMS, Nutro, Maltesers, Orbit and Mars.
Yes. Mars is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, United States and was founded in 1911.
Mars is privately held. Mars is one of the largest privately held companies in the world, owned by the Mars family since Frank Mars began making sweets in Tacoma in 1911.
The most recent completed acquisition recorded here is KIND on 1 November 2020.
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
Report a correction Opens a pre-filled GitHub issue. See our corrections policy.