Italian food group Ferrero expands its biscuit empire further. The company has taken over the popular British biscuit producer Burton’s Biscuits via its Belgian holding company CTH Invest.
Six factories
Ferrero takes over the well-known biscuit producer from pension fund Ontario Teachers and gives no financial details, but according to Bloomberg the company would be worth about 300 million pounds (347 million euros). Burton’s Biscuits has six factories in the UK, employs about 2,000 people and achieved a turnover of 275 million pounds (319 million euros) in the last 12 months. The company markets popular biscuit brands such as Maryland Cookies, Jammie Dodgers, Wagon Wheels, Paterson’s and Thomas Fudge’s.
With this takeover Ferrero says it wants to further expand its offering in the biscuit market. Earlier the company took over Belgian biscuit brand Delacre, Danish Kelsen and British Fox’s via CTH Invest. With Burton’s and Fox’s combined, Ferrero now becomes the third biscuit manufacturer in the UK, after Pladis (owner of McVitie’s) and Mondelez.
Investment fund CTH was founded in Belgium by Giovanni Ferrero, who is the grandson of Nutella inventor Pietro Ferrero.
