Dr Oetker has snapped up pizza brand Chicago Town from the Schwan Food Company for an undisclosed sum.

The German food giant, which already owns the Pizza Ristorante brand and made its debut in the UK pizza market in 2002, assumes control of Schwan’s production facility in Leyland as well as taking over the Chicago Town name.

The sale marks a shift by the US-based Schwan to focus more on its North American business.

“Dr Oetker is the biggest manufacturer of pizza in Europe and the addition of the Schwan's portfolio is complementary to our current range of pizzas,” said Dr Oetker UK frozen and chilled chief Peter Franks.

“We feel that the acquisition creates a complete frozen pizza business, giving us presence in all sectors of the UK's frozen pizza market and providing us with a UK production base.”

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