Tasty Turkish news was announced recently as Yildiz Holdings, best known for their popular Ulker brand, announce they have brought UK biscuit and snack giant United Biscuits in a deal worth an estimated £2 billion.
Yildiz Holdings is the largest food and beverage company in Turkey. They employ over 41,000 spread over 65 countries and are particularly big in China, Japan, the US and the Middle East. With over 300 household brands including chocolate, biscuits, savoury snacks and soft drinks, the company are reportedly very happy with their latest acquisition with their Chairman Tweeting “United Biscuits is our new star!”. This move now gives Yildiz their first true presence in the UK and makes them the world’s 3rd largest biscuit maker. When asked about the purchase, Murat Ulker, Yildiz Chairman, said in his statement, “We want to grow United Biscuits to be a global player as part of Yildiz.” He went on, “This will include enhancing its position in the UK, where Yildiz currently has minimal presence, so we will continue to invest in the UK and Europe”.
The decision to sell the home of such well loved favourites as Jaffa Cakes, McVities Digestives, Hobnobs and Jacobs Cream Crackers will mean a healthy payday for its private equity owners PAI Partners and Blackstone. Having sold off KP Snacks to the German group Intersnack a couple of years ago, European Head of Blackstone, Lionel Assant, commented, “Yildiz is the best home for the company (United Biscuits) and will allow them to fulfill their international growth ambitions”. twiglets
Yildiz have since announced that they intend to keep hold of United Biscuits current management team and are looking to drive the growth of the company forward using Yildiz’s strong and established global distribution network
This is great news for Turkey and for Yildiz, this may even mean that us UK ex-pats, and all those with a property in Turkey, may start to see another taste of home (hopefully at a decent price) on our shelves here in Migros!
