Big Bear Group snapped up by Glisten-owner Raisio

Finnish firm Raisio, which owns the cholesterol-busting Benecol brand, said the deal would give it a stronger foothold in the branded snack and breakfast markets in Britain and Western Europe and strengthen its position in the UK confectionery market.

Chief executive Matti Rihko said the business would be integrated into Raisio’s Western European brand operations as February 4: “Big Bear complements extremely well the earlier acquisition of Glisten and brings the necessary critical mass for the future." ​

He added: “Raisio's growth is proceeding according to plan and the company will continue to be an active player in the acquisition market.”​

Branded growth​

Big Bear, which has two factories in Leicester and London, was created in 2003 by Mario Giannotta, John Jackson, and Paul Wilkinson through the acquisition of Fox’s Confectionery from Northern Foods.

It went on to acquire Sugar Puffs and Harvest Chewee cereal bars from PepsiCo in 2006.

In the year to the end of August 2010, it posted profits before interest and tax of £10.4m on sales of £56m, around 70% which were from breakfast and snack products and around 30% from confectionery.

Glisten​

Glisten employs roughly 600 people across eight manufacturing sites in the UK. Its business is divided into three divisions: savoury snacks; fruit and cereal snacks; and confectionery.