Confectionery mergers and acquisitions in 2012: An interactive timeline
Though the year did not see deals in the same league as Kraft’s $19m 2010 Cadbury buy or Nestle’s $1.2bn Hsu Fu Chi takeover last year, there were nevertheless transactions that will have a major impact on the industry.
Barry Callebaut secured one of the biggest deals of the year and became the world’s largest cocoa processor with a $950 million (€730m) deal for Petra Foods' cocoa division.
New confectionery powerhouse Mondelez International also made its first acquisition since its October spin-off from Kraft Foods with its Vitasnella biscuit buy.
In the US, Ferrara Pan merged with Farley's & Sathers to become a bigger entity, while the sugar trade underwent consolidation as Europe’s largest sugar producer acquired the world’s largest trader.
Click the interactive timeline for a breakdown of the deals of the year, including links to our coverage as it happened.