Lindt strikes sweet deal to acquire Russell Stover Candies
Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Spr眉gli says it is acquiring Russell Stover Candies to expand into the US market.
Russell Stover Candies is Lindt鈥檚 biggest acquisition in the company鈥檚 history, CEO Ernst Tanner says in a. It is a 鈥榰nique opportunity鈥� for the Swiss company to expand its North American operations, Mr. Tanner adds.
The details were not released, but Russell Stover was expected to sell for $1 billion, . Another estimate includes $1.4 billion, an anonymous source familiar with the deal .听
Even without the financial details disclosed, the deal makes Lindt the third-largest chocolate maker in the North America, behind Hershey and Mars. The company also expects to pass its $1.5 billion sales goal in North America in 2015 with the Russell Stover acquisition.
Russell Stover was founded in 1923 in Denver and became notable for its pralines, which were featured in the 聽film "Forrest Gump." In 1993, Russell Stover acquired Whitman鈥檚, one of the US鈥檚 oldest chocolate brands. Russell Stover has annual sales of more than $500 million.
Acquiring Russell Stover means Lindt will have a bigger financial stake in seasonal sales. For Valentine鈥檚 Day, Russell Stover sold an estimated 35 million of its heart boxes, . Russell Stover鈥檚 lower prices are also expected to 聽help Lindt during seasonal sales such as Easter and Christmas.听
Lindt hasn鈥檛 acquired many major companies since the 1990s. In 1998, Lindt acquired San Francisco-based Ghiradelli Chocolate Company as a subsidiary of the company. Lindt has also bought other European companies, such as Austrian confectionery company Hofbauer in 1994 and Italian chocolate-manufacturing company Caffarel in 1997.
Lindt also released its semi-annual sales report in a separate statement. The chocolate maker ended the first half of 2014 with sales of 1.2 billion Swiss francs, or $1.35 billion US. That is up 6 percent compared with last year.听
