Chewing gum has been at the center of a retail rivalry between Wrigley and Cadbury. Mars-Wrigley deal brings together two of the country's oldest, most successful corporate entities and can trigger a wave of further consolidation in the international confectionary industry that lacks a dominant player.

I understand a Wrigley or a Mars a whole lot better than I understand the balance sheet of some of the big banks. I know what I'm getting on this and (with) some of the large financial institutions; I really don't know what's there.

The city of Chicago is undergoing significant changes as one of its iconic confectionary company, the world's largest chewing gum-maker Wrigley, agreed to be purchased by M&M's candy- maker Mars for $23 bn. The deal takes away Chicago's reputation as the chocolate and candy home of the US, after losing such internationally recognized brands Fannie May and Brach's. Mars is globally best known for its chocolate brands such as Snickers and M&Ms. Though Wrigley's leads the chewing gum market worldwide in spite of mounting competition from rival Cadbury Schweppes in recent years according to a recent report by AC Nielsen, Wrigley's share in the US gum market fell from 67% in 2005 to around 63% in 2006 (see Figure 1). At the same time, Cadbury's market share has increased to 32% from 28%. Cadbury has introduced a wide range of Trident flavors and packaging, with innovations like Trident Splash which has one flavor inside and another on the outside. The merged entity will have sales of more than $27 bn annually. Wrigley said, "This is a great transaction at a great price. We see this as a historic opportunity to preserve what is special about Wrigley in terms of value and culture while continuing to grow, develop and invest in our brands. The opportunity to put great brands like Orbit, M&Ms, Skittles and Lifesavers all under the same umbrella is just an unbeatable combination."

Advertising Express Magazine, Wrigley, Chewing Gum, Corporate Entities, Global Wealth Management, Market Share, International Confectionary Industry, Confectionary Business, International Markets, Financial Engineering, Cadbury's Management, Cadbury-Hershey, Global Confectionary Market.