The Ferrero Group has reached an agreement to buy Nestlé’s U.S. confectionery business.
 
The Ferrero Group, the third largest company in the global confectionery market, announced yesterday that it had reached an agreement to purchase Nestlé’s U.S. confectionery business for $2.8 billion.

Ferrero, which already counts Nutella hazelnut spreads and Tic Tac breath mints to its lineup, will be adding premiere names in the industry such as Butterfinger, Baby Ruth, Crunch, Wonka, and many more. It will acquire U.S. manufacturing facilities in Bloomington, Franklin Park and Itasca, Illinois.

“We are very excited about the acquisition of Nestlé’s U.S. confectionery business, which has an outstanding portfolio of iconic brands with rich histories and tremendous awareness,” says Giovanni Ferrero, Executive Chairman of the Ferrero Group. “In combination with Ferrero’s existing U.S. presence, including the recently acquired Fannie May Confections Brands and the Ferrara Candy Company, we will have substantially greater scale, a broader offering of high-quality products to customers across the chocolate snack, sugar confectionery, and seasonal categories, and exciting new growth opportunities in the world’s largest confectionery market. We look forward to welcoming the talented team from Nestlé to Ferrero and to continuing to invest in and grow all of our products and brands in this key strategic and attractive market.”

Nestlé’s U.S. confectionery business generated $900 million in sales in 2016, which will add to Ferrero’s global sales of over $12 billion. The move enhances Ferrero’s continually-growing portfolio and will expand its presence to many different snack categories.