The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the Italian candy company behind Ferrero is close to a $3 billion deal with WK Kellogg. This was based on the reports of people familiar with this matter.

After the bell, shares of WK Kellogg (the company behind Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops) surged by about 51%.

Ferrero may finalize the deal this week, according to the report.

Companies did not respond immediately to requests for comments.

WK Kellogg is a company that was created after Kellogg spun-off its North American Cereal business in a separate publicly listed company around two years ago. Kellanova is the name of the remaining global snacking company.

The U.S. Antitrust approved Mars' $36 Billion takeover of Kellanova in June.

WK Kellogg as well as Kellanova are both struggling with a tepid market demand. (Reporting and editing by Shilpa Majumdar in Bengaluru, Anuja Mistry from Bengaluru)

(source: Reuters)