CTH Invest, a Belgian holding company related to the Ferrero Group, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Burton’s Biscuit Company from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.

Burton’s produces some of the best-loved brands in the UK biscuit market, including Maryland Cookies, Jammie Dodgers, Wagon Wheels, Paterson’s and Thomas Fudge’s. The business has a history in the British biscuit market dating back to 1935.

Burton’s employs approximately 2,000 people across six manufacturing locations in the UK. It generated sales of more than £275 million ($389.22 million) during the last 12 months. 

As part of the transaction, CTH will take over the six production facilities in the United Kingdom, which are based in Blackpool, Dorset, Edinburgh, Livingston, Llantarnam and Isle of Arran.

Through this acquisition, CTH expects to expand offerings in the sweet biscuits market, supported by the previous acquisitions of Biscuits Delacre, Kelsen Group and Fox’s.

Ontario Teachers’ acquired Burton’s in 2013 and has helped grow the business through continued investment across the branded, retailer brand and third-party global brand portfolios, in addition to organic initiatives and bolt-on acquisitions.

Davis Polk & Wardwell, LMS Legal LLP and Houlihan Lokey served as legal and financial advisors to CTH. Kirkland & Ellis and Stamford Partners served as legal and financial advisors to Ontario Teachers’.

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board is the administrator of Canada’s largest single-profession pension plan, with C$221.2 billion in net assets. It holds a diverse global portfolio of assets, approximately 80 percent of which is managed in-house and has earned an annual total-fund net return of 9.6 percent since the plan’s founding in 1990.