Mars’ posh pivot comes with a rich price
16/11/2023 11:13
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are her own.)
By Aimee Donnellan
LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The privately
held Snickers maker is buying upmarket British brand Hotel
Chocolat for $662 mln. Its premium products may benefit as
consumers move away from cheap sugar-rich snacks. But UK
shoppers are stretched, and Mars will need rapid growth to make
an appetising return.
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CONTEXT NEWS
Britain’s Hotel Chocolat agreed to a 534 million pound
takeover offer from Mars on Nov. 16.
The 375 pence per share recommended cash offer represents a
170% premium to Hotel Chocolat’s share price on the day before
the offer.
Hotel Chocolat now has 130 stores across the UK, plus a
presence in Japan through a partner deal.
But the group posted what it called disappointing results in
its last financial year and said on Nov. 16 that expanding
overseas would require substantial investment.
Shares in Hotel Chocolat were up 162% by 0907 GMT on Nov.
16. The stock had fallen 11% in 2023 before the deal was
announced and declined by 73% since its peak in 2021.
(Editing by Neil Unmack and Oliver Taslic)
((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can
click on DONNELLAN/
Aimee.Donnellan@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
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