American candy manufacturer Mars acquired full control over Wrigley, after it obtained the remaining shares from Warren Buffett. The company will now bring all of its chocolate and chewing gum brands together.
New division is called Mars Wrigley Confectionery
Back in 2008, Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett’s investment fund, paid 2.1 billion dollars (nearly 2 billion euro) for a share in Wrigley when Mars bought it for 23 billion dollars (21 billion euro). The deal led to the world’s largest candy manufacturer, with brands like Snickers, Mars and Skittles.
Up until now, all of the company’s non-chocolate brands were managed through Wrigley, but now that Mars acquired Warren Buffett’s shares, everything will move to the newly-formed Mars Wrigley Confectionery division, which will house all of the group’s candy brands.
However, for the time being, both divisions will work independently, with a merger planned for 2017. Wrigley’s current CEO, Martin Radvan, will become the new CEO for Mars Wrigley Confectionery.