When a global FMCG deal closes, the headline is the price. Mars completing its acquisition of Kellanova for around US$36 billion is a large number, and it dominated the coverage. But for the Australian operations caught up in a deal like this, the number that matters is how many of the local leaders are still in place 12 and 24 months later.

That's the part boards and businesses tend to underestimate. Global mergers create immediate uncertainty for local leadership, and the businesses that manage that well hold on to the people who actually run the Australian operation.

The Deal, and Its Australian Footprint

Mars completed its acquisition of Kellanova in December 2025, after the European Commission granted unconditional clearance on a deal valued at €31 billion, around US$36 billion. The combined business brings together Mars confectionery and Kellanova brands including Pringles, Cheez-It, Pop-Tarts, Rice Krispies Treats and Kellogg's international cereals.

The Australian implications are concrete. The Kellogg's cereal factory at Botany in NSW is now part of Mars Australia, and Mars employs around 2,400 people across seven factories and two corporate offices in Australia. Mars has also committed to invest $200 million in its Australian manufacturing operations by the end of 2027, including a $112.5 million wet pouch facility expected to create more than 60 jobs.

So this isn't a distant offshore deal. It directly reshapes who runs manufacturing, supply chain and commercial functions for some well-known brands in Australia, and it merges two different corporate structures and cultures into one local operation.

Why Local Leadership Is the Pressure Point

When a global merger happens, the strategy and the savings are set at head office. The execution lands locally. And the people executing it are suddenly working through restructured reporting lines, a new owner's operating model, and uncertainty about whether their role still exists.

That's where good people start looking. A category lead, a supply chain director, or a commercial manager who was secure six months ago now reports into a different structure, often to someone new, with less clarity about their future. Competitors know this, and they target exactly these people during integration, when they're most unsettled.

The cost of losing them is high. Local leaders hold the retailer relationships, the supplier knowledge, and the operational detail that head office doesn't have. Lose a few of them at once and the Australian business loses continuity at the moment it most needs stability.

Retention Through Integration Is the Real Test

This is now a recognised risk in Australian dealmaking. PwC Australia's view of the M&A market is that success in these deals comes down to speed and people, including planning for how to retain talent. The deal logic only works if the people who deliver it stay.

It's also a busier environment for this kind of disruption than it has been. Australia's new mandatory merger notification regime commenced on 1 January 2026, changing how deals are reviewed, and large transactions continue across the consumer sector. The Chemist Warehouse and Sigma Healthcare merger began trading on the ASX in February 2025 with a combined market value of around $32 billion.

Global parents are restructuring too. Nestle announced in October 2025 that it would cut 16,000 jobs worldwide and target CHF 3 billion in savings by 2027 under a new chief executive. Every one of these reshuffles flows down to Australian operations and the leaders who run them.

What Boards and Acquirers Get Wrong

In my experience running FMCG businesses, the mistake in an integration is treating retention as something to deal with after the structure is settled. By the time the new org chart is finalised and the conversations finally happen, the people worth keeping have already decided to leave.

The businesses that hold their leadership through a transition do a few things differently:

• They identify the critical local leaders early and have direct, honest conversations with them about their role, before the rumour mill does it for them
• They move quickly on structure, because prolonged uncertainty is what drives good people out
• They protect the relationships and knowledge that sit with local leaders, rather than assuming a global operating model can replace them
• They bring in new leadership where it's genuinely needed, and do it deliberately, not as an afterthought to the deal
  
  

The acquirers who get this right keep the value they paid for. The ones who don't watch the local capability walk out the door in the first year, then spend the next two trying to rebuild it.

The Hiring Side of M&A

There's a second implication for FMCG businesses caught up in this. Integration creates leadership gaps, sometimes because people leave, sometimes because the new structure genuinely needs different capability. Filling those gaps well, with leaders who can operate through change and stabilise a team, is its own challenge.

This is where a clear view of what the role now requires matters. A business mid-integration doesn't just need a competent executive. It needs someone who can hold a team together through uncertainty, rebuild relationships that may have been disrupted, and operate within a new owner's model. That's a specific brief, and rushing it tends to produce a poor result.

Stability Is a Decision

Global FMCG M&A isn't slowing, and Australian operations will keep being reshaped by deals decided overseas. The leadership disruption that follows is predictable, which means it can be planned for.

The businesses that treat local leadership retention as a core part of integration, not a detail to handle later, will come through these transitions in better shape. The ones that don't will keep losing the people who hold the Australian business together.

If you're a founder, CEO, or board member in FMCG facing a merger, an acquisition, or a parent-company restructure, it's worth thinking about leadership stability before the disruption hits, rather than reacting to it once your best people have started to leave.

ELR Executive is a specialist executive search firm focused exclusively on FMCG, food and beverage manufacturing, and fresh produce. If you’re making a senior leadership decision and want clarity on what capability your business needs, a conversation with John Elliott is a good place to start.