Ferrero buys Nestle's U.S.

The Italian manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products, Ferrero, has announced its latest acquisition of Nestle's U.S. confectionery business.​

An old Ferrero advertisement

We are very excited about the acquisition of Nestle’s U.S. confectionery business, which has an outstanding portfolio of iconic brands with rich histories and tremendous awareness. Giovanni Ferrero.

The $2.8 Billion agreement marks Ferrero’s largest push into the U.S. market currently and includes more than 20 historic American brands, such as Butterfinger, BabyRuth, 100Grand, Raisinets and Wonka, exclusive rights on SweeTarts, LaffyTaffy, Nerds and the Crunch brand in the US as well as Nestle's U.S. production facilities in Bloomington, Franklin Park and Itasca, Illinois.

Founded in 1946 in Alba, Piedmont, by Pietro Ferrero, the company became an instant hit in Italy, with Pietro’s invention of "pasta gianduja,” a cream of derived from Gianduja, shifting the Italian consumption habit of sweets. Since then, the Ferrero family has built its success on introducing new products and developing strong brands such as Nutella, Kinder, Tic Tac, Ferrero Rocher as well as expanding its operations in more than 170 countries.

“We are very excited about the acquisition of Nestle’s U.S. confectionery business, which has an outstanding portfolio of iconic brands with rich histories and tremendous awareness," Giovanni Ferrero, executive chairman of the Ferrero Group, said in a statement. "We will have substantially greater scale, a broader offering of high-quality products to customers across the chocolate snack, sugar confectionary and seasonal categories, and exciting new growth opportunities in the world's largest confectionery market," he added.

Swiss food and beverage company Nestle, has been moving toward healthier and faster-growing categories like coffee, pet food, infant nutrition and water, as sugary products show signs of abating . Nestle has been working on reposition itself since chief executive Mark Schneider took the lead of the firm.

According to Euromonitor, a market research provider, the acquisition will make Ferrero the third-largest company in the US, followed by Hershey and Mars.