Mars buys chocolate maker and retailer Hotel Chocolat for £534m

Hotel Chocolat chief executive said he had taken the company as far as he could as a small independent player
Mars buys chocolate maker and retailer Hotel Chocolat for £534m

Hotel Chocolat chief executive Angus Thirlwell and co-founder Peter Harris, who both own 27% of the shares, have said they will accept the offer, meaning the deal will earn them about £144m each.

Britain's Hotel Chocolat has agreed to a £534m (€610m) takeover offer from Mars, as the chocolate maker and retailer succumbs to the US food giant to help it grow internationally, netting its founders a tidy profit.

"We think that this is a knock-out bid," analysts at broker Peel Hunt said, adding they were not expecting any counterbid.

Hotel Chocolat chief executive Angus Thirlwell and co-founder Peter Harris, who both own 27% of the shares, have said they will accept the offer, meaning the deal will earn them about £144m each.

But it hasn't all been plain sailing. The shares were trading below levels of April last year, before botched expansion attempts cost it heavily, and the cost-of -iving crisis hit sales.

Taking Hotel Chocolat's trillionaire shortbread and champagne chocolate truffles further afield has proved tricky so far, and Mr Thirlwell said he had taken the company as far as he could as a small independent player.

He plans to stay leading the company for the next five years under the ownership of family-owned Mars, home of M&M's, Snickers and Skittles.

While the Hotel Chocolat brand was making progress in Japan and the United States, he said, despite previous setbacks, the company would soon need to set up manufacturing and build infrastructure in those markets, requiring capital and resources. 

• Reuters

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