Mars gobbles up Buffett’s stake in Wrigley chewing gum business
Mars has bought billionaire investor Warren Buffett's minority stake in its subsidiary Wrigley, giving it full control of the chewing gum company.
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway bought into Wrigley in 2008, spending $2.1bn (£1.7bn) to help Mars buy Wrigley for $23bn.
Berkshire had a 19.4 percent stake in the business, the Financial Times reported. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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Martin Radvan, the current global president of Wrigley and a 30-year veteran of Mars, will leading the new business.
Mars intends to combine its Chocolate and Wrigley segments to create Mars Wrigley Confectionery, it said in a statement today.
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He said: "Mars Wrigley Confectionery brings together two great businesses, strengthening our ability to create win-win relationships with our customers and improving our opportunities to address dynamic retail and consumer trends together."
Grant F. Reid, chief executive of Mars, added: "We are grateful for the strong and productive partnership we have with Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway.
"It is a great relationship that has yielded value on both sides."