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UK DEVELOPMENTS
Bensons Fruit & Nut Case Bensons Crisps is buying Country Harvest, which specialises in adult snacks, dried fruits and speciality rice and nuts. The deal, estimated to be costing some L6.7m will give Bensons the opportunity to extend their product range into complementary areas, as well as growing Country Harvest's organic products, and developing its dried fruit packs into ready to eat snacks.
Whitbread-Allied Deal
Whitbread is buying Allied Domecq's pub division for L2.4bn, in a deal which will create Britain's largest pub and restaurant group. The combined businesses will have sales of L5bn, 115,000 employees and 7,200 outlets. These will include the Firkin and Hogshead real ale pub chains, the Beefeater and Big Steak restaurants as well as the Cafe Rouge and cafe bars. Whitbread will have to dispose of its beer division in order to overcome objections from the competition authorities limiting the number of pubs a brewer may control. This could...