Mondelez and Campbell Soup have reached a stalemate in talks over the sale of the soup company's Arnott's cookie brands, people familiar with the matter tell CNBC.
There still remains multiple buyers for Arnott's, including a consortium backed by private equity firm KKR, one of the people said. It could not be immediately determined what price these other buyers offered, but private equity firms typically pay less for acquisitions than corporate buyers that can take advantage of synergies.
In December, Campbell named new CEO Mark Clouse, who spent 20 years at Mondelez and its predecessor Kraft Foods. Mondelez has said it wants to focus on deals in the snacking industry in a"financially rigorous manner." It recently bought premium cookie brand Tate's Bake Shop for $500 million. Last year, Mondelez launched SnackFuture, an innovation hub for new snacking brands, which recently announced a stake in early stage food start up Uplift Food.