Mars Inc. will buy gum maker Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. for nearly $23 billion. This price is 4.3 times Wrigley's 2007 net sales and more than 35 times its 2007 earnings per share, Wrigley said. The deal creates a company with more than $27 billion in sales and upwards of 64,000 associates globally, the target's chairman Bill Wrigley Jr. wrote in an e-mail to employees.
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Upon the deal's close, Chicago-based Wrigley will become a standalone subsidiary of privately held Mars, which is best-known for chocolate candies M&Ms and Snickers. Mars will transfer its nonchocolate confection brands including Starburst and Skittles to Wrigley, which is best-known for its Wrigley's Spearmint and Juicy Fruit gums and Altoids mints.
Additional coverage will come later in The Daily Deal and on TheDeal.com. - Carolyn Murphy
See TheDeal.com: Mars to buy Wrigley
See Dealwatch: Confectioners: Mars, Wrigley, Cadbury and Hershey
