Getting your player ready...
MILWAUKEE — Shareholders of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. have approved the company’s $23 billion sale to Mars Inc., a move that will end more than a century of family control as the chewing-gum company becomes part of what will now be the world’s largest candymaker.
The deal, expected to be finalized around Oct. 6, joins the company that makes gums Juicy Fruit and Big Red with the privately held maker of M&Ms, Snickers and Skittles, bumping Britain’s Cadbury PLC from the top candymaking slot.
The voting results were released Thursday at a shareholder meeting in Wrigley’s hometown of Chicago.
The deal, announced in April, includes financing from famed investor Warren Buffett.
