Wrigley Co. buys Russian chocolate maker

CHICAGO, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. chewing gum giant Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. has bought an 80 percent stake in a Russian premium-chocolate company, the company says.

The $300 million investment in A. Korkunov, with the remaining 20 percent to be acquired by 2009, gets Chicago-based Wrigley in the chocolate business for the first time, The Chicago Sun-Times reports.

A. Korkunov -- started in 1999 by Russian entrepreneurs Andrey Korkunov and Sergey Lyapuntsovis -- is the No. 7 player in Russia's $3.7 billion chocolate market and has been named a top 10 Russian brand by both the Young & Rubicam advertising agency and the Russian Branded Goods Association.

A. Korkunov management will stay on, Wrigley said.

Wrigley did not disclose its plans for A. Korkunov, but analysts said Wrigley could leverage its distribution system to put the candy into markets far beyond the Russian metropolitan areas in which it is now available, the newspaper says.

Publication date: 25 January 2007

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