Big Bear Group, the company behind Sugar Puffs, has been sold to Finnish food giant Raisio – as predicted last month by The Grocer.

Raisio takes control via its Leeds-based confectionery subsidiary Glisten in a deal worth £82m deal. The group subsequently said it was bidding to become “the leading provider of healthy snacks in Europe”.

“With the acquisition of Big Bear Group, Raisio will strengthen its footprint in the markets in Great Britain and Western Europe, and the company’s brand business is growing as planned,” said Raisio chief executive Matti Rihko.

“Big Bear sales are all branded and it has a very strong market position in interesting and suitable sized categories.”

He added: “Big Bear complements extremely well the earlier acquisition of Glisten and brings the necessary critical mass for the future.”

Big Bear acquired Honey Monster Foods, owner of the Sugar Puffs brand, in 2005. The company has annual sales of £56m.

Glisten was bought by Raisio for £19.6m last year.

Read more
Raisio tipped to get its paws on Big Bear Group (31 January 2011)
Big Bear and Honey Monster plan to go public (18 January 2010)