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United Biscuits ("UB") is a
British
multinational food manufacturer,
makers of the BN biscuits, McVitie's biscuits, KP
Nuts, Hula Hoops, The Real McCoy's crisps, Phileas Fogg snacks, Jacob's Cream Crackers,
and Twiglets. The Company was listed
on the
London Stock Exchange
and was once a constituent of the
FTSE
100 Index but in December 2006 it was acquired by a consortium
of
Blackstone Group and
PAI Partners.
History
United Biscuits was formed in 1948 from the merger between McVitie
& Price and MacFarlane Lang.
In 1972, it acquired
Carr's of Carlisle, makers of the
eponymous
Table Water biscuits.
The Company owned the
Wimpy Bar fast
food restaurant chain between 1977 and 1989. It also acquired the
chilled food company
Ross Young's in
1988.
The Company was acquired in May 2000 by Finalrealm, a consortium of
financial investors, as well as
Nabisco
Holdings Corporation: as part of the transaction, UB acquired
Nabisco's European businesses.
The Company sold
Young's Bluecrest
in 2001, in order to concentrate on the sweet biscuit sector.
In September 2004 the Company bought the UK portion of
Groupe Danone's Jacob's Biscuit Group for £240
million.
In July 2006 it sold its Southern European biscuits business to
Kraft Foods, which in turn left the
owner syndicate.
In October 2006 the Company was sold to a consortium made up of the
Blackstone Group and
PAI Partners. The deal was completed in
December 2006.
Operations
The core
of the business is in the United Kingdom, where it produces biscuits, crisps and other
snacks under a number of brand names including: McVitie's biscuits, KP
Nuts, Hula Hoops, The Real McCoy's crisps, Phileas Fogg snacks, and Jacob's Cream Crackers,
and Twiglets.
The
company manufactures in a number of countries across Europe, such
as the Netherlands
, France
and Belgium
.
The
company's headquarters are in Hayes
,
Middlesex. The company's main UK distribution centre is
at Ashby-de-la-Zouch
, where it also has a factory manufacturing KP Snacks.
United Biscuits Network
The '
United Biscuits
Network', a radio network serving their factories across the UK
which folded in 1979, spawned the career of UK radio presenter
Steve Allen and TV
and radio personality
Dale Winton.
Recall
On 2 November 2007, United Biscuits issued a recall on its
Crawford's Bourbon Cream biscuits. The reason for the recall was
the possible presence of small pieces of thin metal wire in the
biscuits.
See also
References
- " Information on Wimpy's Franchise",Caterer
Search. Retrieved on 2008-01-29.
External links
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