Turkey’s Ülker racing to acquire British sweets giant United Biscuits

LONDON - Agence France-Presse

Turkish biscuit company Ülker Bisküvi is among the bidders that has placed an offer for British snack and cookie maker United Biscuits, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sept. 23, citing sources close to the matter.

Ülker Bisküvi made its first-round bid last week, along with U.S. cereal maker Kellogg and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, a massive Canadian pension fund, sources told the news outlet.
They said three companies were racing with bids reaching 2 billion pounds ($3.27 billion) to acquire the biscuit firm.

Italian chocolate giant Ferrero, which owns brands like Nutella and Kinder, as well as the Philippines’ largest food company, San Miguel, have reportedly also expressed an interest in the maker of McVitie’s biscuits, Jacob’s Cream Crackers, and Twiglets, sources said, while noting the latter companies had not submitted any offer.

The company, which was founded with the merger of two Scottish family busi-nesses, was sold to a consortium made up of the Blackstone Group and PAI Part-ners in October 2006.

In 2010, the firms tried to sell the business to China’s Bright Food Group Co., but the deal fell apart over pension liabilities at United Biscuits, which makes British favorites such as Jaffa Cakes and McVitie’s Digestives, the WSJ also reported.