UK biscuit manufacturer acquires Saudi food company

United Biscuits (UB) will acquire all assets of the Rana Confectionery Products business, a company based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. According to UB, the acquisition, announced in October this year, will be made by its partner in the KSA, Ali Zaid Al-Quraishi & Brothers Company. Under the agreement, UB will handle the production facility. 

“UB has been working hard over the last five years alongside our strategic partners, such as Ali Zaid Al-Quraishi & Brothers Company, to establish McVitie's as a leading brand in the Middle East.  Acquiring a Saudi-based manufacturer of branded sweet snacks furthers our ability to serve consumers and customers in the Middle East with a wide range of preferred snacks,” Jeff van der Eems, UB’s CEO for International, said in a corporate media release.

For his part, Yousef Al Quraishi, managing director of Ali Zaid Al-Quraishi & Brothers Company said, “We see immense opportunity for local value addition by going beyond the traditional distribution model and to provide Saudi and Middle Eastern consumers locally manufactured sweet snacks, produced at similar quality standards to what they would expect to experience in Europe. By shortening the shipping lead times, the products are in the hands of our customers faster and fresher. For our customers, this would also mean availability of a wider choice of quality snacks locally at attractive price points.”

A leading multinational food company in the UK, UB has markets in over 100 countries, with 15% of sales coming from markets outside the UK and North West Europe.