ROMANIA: Wrigley reorganised its operations under Mars umbrella | Progresiv
Eight years after Wrigley was taken over by Mars, the American company started the integration of the two businesses locally at the beginning of 2016. According to market sources, these days the president of Mars Incorporated Europe is in Romania discussed with business partners and the local team. 
“We can confirm that we have entered into a consultation process with our Associates in Romania on proposed changes to the Mars Multisales and Wrigley organisations. During this process, which will run for a minimum of six weeks, we will be seeking the feedback and input of our Associates in order to explore different options to build a more sustainable business for the future. Specifically, and subject to the final outcome of the consultation, we are proposing the transfer of the Wrigley business in Romania to Mars Multisales, where Mars Multisales would run the Wrigley business within this market. However, and until the consultation process is complete, we are not able to provide any further detail about our plans”, answered Mars representatives to an inquiry by Progresiv magazine.
Wrigley was among the first multinational companies to set up subsidiaries in our country, being present since 1992, and Romania is among the few markets where Wrigley operates as a stand-alone entity.
In 2008, the US group Mars acquired Wrigley gum maker in a transaction of about 23 billion dollars. Following the acquisition, Wrigley became a subsidiary within Mars Incorporated, and the businesses were integrated in most markets where the two entities were present.
In Romania, according to data from the Ministry of Finance, the two companies have similar turnovers. Mars Romania reported sales of 213 million lei in 2014 and a profit just over 16 million lei, while Wrigley Romania had sales of 208 million lei, but had a significantly higher profit, of 36 million lei. In Romania, Wrigley has double the number of employees compared to Mars, 161 employees versus 74 employees.
After the integration, the company will have a portfolio present in four categories: pet food (Pedigree, Whiskas, etc.), confectionery (Snickers, Twix, Mars, Bounty, M & M, Skittles), food (Dolmio and Uncle Ben's) and chewing gum (Orbit, 5five).
