Tesco’s decision to potentially exit the US market shared the headlines with Intersnack’s acquisition of United Biscuit’s salty snacks unit. just-food spoke with Intersnack’s MD Bernd ter Glane about the deal. Elsewhere, just-food spoke with FrieslandCampina’s boss Cees Ruijgrok and the chief executive of Nestle’s operations in equatorial Africa, Ian Donald.
“The last 18 months, we gave the business the best shot. We minimised the costs. We reduced the losses. I don’t think there’s any more we could have done but once it became clear, we had to act fast” – Tesco CEO Philip Clarke on the group’s decision to potentially exit the US market.
“I think everybody is still looking jealously at China. It’s all relative. China will continue to grow” – Dutch dairy giant FrieslandCampina’s export boss Cees Ruijgrok responds to a question on whether he is concerned about the slowdown in growth in China.
“We always were looking for a good foothold in the UK market and we saw that there is an ideal chance here” – Intersnack international marketing director Bernd ter Glane tells just-food why the company bought United Biscuit’s salty snacks division.
“We realised that to develop it and to understand the consumer we were going to have to put structures on the ground and work in the countries, which is about what we are doing” – the chief executive of Nestle’s operations in equatorial Africa, Ian Donald, says Nestle’s need to develop a detailed and in-depth understanding of the different markets in Africa prompted it to form its equatorial Africa division.
“B&M has risen from relative insignificance to being quite a serious presence on the high street so it is quite a significant move for it to be acquired in that way and it values it at quite a lot as well” – Verdict Research analyst Andy Stevens believes the acquisition of UK discount retailer B&M Retail by private-equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is “significant” given the retailer’s growth.
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