Cadbury completes Adams buy
its acquisition of US-based sugar confectionery producer Adams.
Cadbury Schweppes, the UK-based confectionery and soft drinks group, has completed its acquisition of the sugar confectionery group Adams, first announced last year.
The company paid US group Pfizer $4.2 billion (€3.9bn) for Adams, a deal which will make the UK company the biggest confectionery group in the world.
Cadbury will now have leadership positions in sugar and functional confectionery and become the world's number two player in gum, after US group Wrigley. Four 'power' brands represent over 70 per cent of Adams sales - Halls medicated confectionery, Trident sugar-free gum, Dentyne Ice chewing gum and the Bubbas bubblegum range. Cadbury Schweppes also gains access to major new markets, particularly in Latin America.
Welcoming Adams employees into Cadbury Schweppes, John Sunderland, Cadbury Schweppes' CEO, said: "Adams brings Cadbury Schweppes powerful brands, access to new geographies and significant scale in the fastest growing confectionery sectors. Together we are able to offer our customers and consumers a full range of products in every confectionery category which then gives us an excellent platform for growth and value creation."
Cadbury Schweppes and Adams' confectionery businesses in the Americas will be integrated into a new unit, Americas Confectionery. Elsewhere, Adams operations will report into Cadbury Schweppes' Europe, Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific regions. This structure will enable Cadbury Schweppes to implement the integration quickly and efficiently and maximise the core competencies of its worldwide confectionery operations.
