General Mills purchase of Blue Buffalo is 8th-largest deal by Minnesota firm

General Mills' purchase of Blue Buffalo Pet Products is the eighth-largest acquisition by value of a Minnesota-based company. Here's a list of the ten biggest deals, with date and value:

1. Medtronic acquires Covidien, June 2014, $42.7 billion

2. Norwest Corp. acquires Wells Fargo, June 1998, $34.4 billion

3. St. Paul Cos. Inc. acquires Travelers Property Casualty, November 2003, $16.1 billion

4. UnitedHealth Group acquires Catamaran, March 2015, $12.8 billion

5. General Mills acquires Pillsbury Co., July 2000, $10.5 billion

6. First Bank Systems acquires U.S. Bancorp, March 1997, $8.9 billion

7. Ecolab Inc. acquires Nalco, July 2011, $8.1 billion

8. General Mills acquires Blue Buffalo Pet Co., February 2018, $8 billion

9. UnitedHealth Group acquires PacifiCare Health, July 2005, $7.4 billion

10. UnitedHealth Group acquires Oxford Health Plans, April 2004, $5 billion