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United Biscuits

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United Biscuits (UK) Limited
United Biscuits
Company typePrivate
IndustryFood
PredecessorUnited Biscuits (holdings) plc
Founded18 March 1948;76 years ago(1948-03-18)
HeadquartersLondon,England,UK
Key people
Murat Ülker
(Chairman)[1]
David Murray
(Managing Director)[1]
Sridhar Ramamurthy
(Chief financial officer)[1]
ProductsSweet and salty snacks
RevenueIncrease£867.5 million (2020)[2]
Increase£83.0 million (2020)[2]
Increase£77.4 million (2020)[2]
Number of employees
4,526 (2018)
ParentPladis(50–75%)[3]
Websitewww.unitedbiscuits.com

United Biscuits(UB) is a Britishmultinationalfood manufacturer, makers ofMcVitie'sbiscuits,Jacob'sCream Crackers,andTwiglets.The company was listed on theLondon Stock Exchangeand was once a constituent of theFTSE 100 Index.In November 2014, the company was acquired byYıldız Holdingand is now part ofPladis.

United Biscuits manufactures in a number of countries across Europe, such as theNetherlands,FranceandBelgium.It also has a manufacturing site inIndia.Its company'sheadquartersis inChiswick Business Parkin west London.

History

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United Biscuits (UB) was formed in 1948 by a merger of two Scottish family businesses:McVitie & Priceand MacFarlane Lang.[4]In 1962,William Crawford & Sons,a business founded inLeith,Edinburghin 1813 which was best known for itsshortbread,was acquired by United Biscuits for £6 million.[5]In 1965, the company also acquired William MacDonald & Sons for £2.8 million, and brought the Penguin brand to the group.[6]

The company was listed on theLondon Stock Exchangeas United Biscuits plc on 27 July 1948.[7]

In 1972, United Biscuits acquiredCarr's of Carlisle,makers ofTable Water biscuits,fromJames Goldsmith'sCavenham Foodsfor £2.75 million.[8]Two years later in 1974, it acquired the US-basedKeebler Companyfor $53 million. It also owned theWimpy Barfast food restaurant chain between 1977 and 1989, before selling it off toBurger King.[9]

United Biscuits acquired the frozen food companyRoss Young'sfromHansonin 1988 for £335 million.[10]

It sold Keebler for $500 million in 1995 after giving up efforts to break into the American market.[11]

United Biscuits was de-listed from the London Stock Exchange and acquired in May 2000 by Finalrealm, a consortium of financial investors, as well asNabiscoHoldings Corporation. As part of the transaction, UB acquired Nabisco's European businesses[12]and divested several part of its international business inScandinavia,continental Europe,Asia (Keebler Malaysia and Singapore), several brands includingTUCand 70% shareholding inFazerKeksit (Biscuit) in Finland toGroupe Danoneand Far East (China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) to Nabisco.[13]The company soldYoung's Bluecrestin 2001, in order to concentrate on the sweet biscuit sector.[14]In September 2004, United Biscuits bought the UK portion ofGroupe Danone's Jacob's Biscuit Group for £240 million, including Cream Crackers and Twiglets.[15]In July 2006, the company sold its Southern European biscuits business toKraft Foods,which in turn left the owner syndicate.[16]

In October 2006,MidOcean Partnerssold the company to a consortium made up of theBlackstone GroupandPAI Partners.[17]The deal was completed in December 2006.[18][19]

In December 2012 UB agreed the sale of itsKP Snacksbusiness toIntersnackfor £500 million.[20]On 3 November 2014, private equity funds managed byBlackstoneandPAI Partnersannounced the sale of United Biscuits toYıldız Holding.[21]

Operations

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The core of the business is in the United Kingdom, where it produces biscuits under a number of brand names including:McVitie'sbiscuits andJacob'sCream Crackers.[22]

The company manufactures in a number of countries across Europe, such as theNetherlands,FranceandBelgium.It also has a manufacturing site inIndia.[23]

The company'sheadquartersis inChiswick Business Parkin west London. The company's main UK distribution centre is atAshby-de-la-Zouch.[24]

Brands

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Jacob's

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Main article:Jacob's

McVities

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Main article:McVities

United Biscuits Network

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TheUnited Biscuits Network,a closed-circuit radio network serving their factories across the UK which was active from 1970 to 1979, spawned the career of UK radio presenterSteve Allenand TV and radio personalityDale Winton.[26]

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In his 2009 bookThe Pleasures and Sorrows of Work,Alain de Bottonchronicles his tour and brief experiences with employees of United Biscuits as they launched the "Moments" biscuit line.[27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abc"Companies House Records".Retrieved4 July2020.
  2. ^abc"Annual Accounts for the tear ended 31 December 2020".Retrieved2 October2021.
  3. ^"Companies House PSC register".Retrieved4 July2020.
  4. ^"A New Biscuit Company."The Times[London, England] 19 March 1948: 9.
  5. ^"United Biscuits Crawfords For More Than £6M."The Times[London, England] 24 May 1962: 19.
  6. ^"£2.8M. Biscuit Merger."The Times[London, England] 21 January 1965: 22.
  7. ^"Archive issuer list 1999".Retrieved4 July2020.
  8. ^Anthony Rowley. "Cavenham sell biscuit interests for £4m."The Times[London, England] 5 July 1972: 19.
  9. ^"Information on Wimpy's FranchiseArchived11 February 2013 at theWayback Machine",Caterer Search.Retrieved on 29 January 2008.
  10. ^"History".United Biscuits. Archived fromthe originalon 26 July 2011.Retrieved4 January2009.
  11. ^United Biscuits Sells Keebler for $500 Million
  12. ^"UB to weigh up its options".Eurofood. 25 April 2002.Retrieved12 April2007.
  13. ^United Biscuits (holdings) Limited, 1999 Annual Report
  14. ^"United Biscuits selling Young's stake".Eurofood. 29 March 2001.Retrieved12 April2007.
  15. ^"Danone sells its UK biscuits to United".The Independent.24 July 2004. Archived fromthe originalon 27 December 2007.Retrieved12 April2007.
  16. ^"City sandwich".The Daily Telegraph.London. 11 July 2006.Retrieved4 January2009.
  17. ^Parkinson, Gary (26 October 2006)."Private-equity companies snap up United Biscuits in a [pound]1.6bn".The Independent.Retrieved12 April2007.
  18. ^"Blackstone and PAI complete purchase of UB"(Press release). United Biscuits. 15 December 2006. Archived fromthe originalon 27 September 2007.Retrieved12 April2007.
  19. ^"Cinven, MidOcean to sell United Biscuits"(Press release). Alt Assets. 25 October 2006.Retrieved25 November2014.
  20. ^"KP Snacks snapped up by Intersnack in £500m deal".Manchester Evening News.5 December 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 8 December 2012.
  21. ^"Turkish food giant gobbles up United Biscuits".The Daily Telegraph.3 November 2014.Retrieved5 November2014.
  22. ^"McVitie's and Jacob's owner Yildiz plans to sell British biscuits around the world".The Independent.8 June 2016.Retrieved17 October2017.
  23. ^"Team Builder".Business Today. 16 March 2014.Retrieved17 October2017.
  24. ^"United Biscuits Midlands Distribution Centre".Mister What.Retrieved17 October2017.
  25. ^"United Bars are the eighties sweets we need to see back on our shelves".The Daily Edge.9 February 2016.
  26. ^"Pick of the Pops Biography".BBC. Archived fromthe originalon 12 February 2009.Retrieved4 January2009.
  27. ^"The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work".The Economist. 26 March 2009.Retrieved17 October2017.
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