Turkish company acquires British biscuit giant, becoming global number 3

ISTANBUL/LONDON

Yıldız Holding, headed by Murat Ülker, has acquired British United Biscuits.

Turkey’s Yıldız Holding has said it has acquired U.K.-based cookies and snacks maker United Biscuits from Blackstone Group and PAI Partners, thus becoming the world’s third largest biscuit maker.

“Yıldız Holding will execute the same independent management model in United Biscuits as it has done in Godiva, which it acquired in 2007,” read a statement issued by the company on Nov. 3.

Yıldız Holding said it had finally signed the deal with the British giant after competing with U.S.-based Kellogg and Canada’s Ontario Teachers, which acquired British Burton last year.

The company did not give any financial details of the acquisition, but United Biscuits’ private equity owners had been close to sealing a deal to sell the U.K.-based cookies and snacks maker to Yıldız Holding for about over 2 billion pounds ($3 billion), including debt, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier on Nov. 3.

HSBC and Ünlü&Co undertook the mediating role in the process, Yıldız Holding’s statement added.

The 184-year-old United Biscuits has a total of 14 production facilities in the world, including 11 in Europe and one each in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and India. Some 7,171 people are currently employed by the company, said the statement.

“Yıldız Holding will strengthen its position in the biscuits and snacks market with this acquisition and continue to grow with the new production capacities, markets, distribution channels and products,” said the statement.