Buffett Confects One Sweet Deal

Until now, Cadbury has been the global leader in candy, with 10 percent of the world market. Hershey is the world's No. 3 chocolate-maker, behind Mars and Switzerland's Nestle, respectively, according to Euromonitor. The combined Mars and Wrigley would have at least 14 percent of the world market.

Shares of Hershey closed up $1.61 at $36.35 a share yesterday on speculation of a possible merger. But Merrill Lynch said in an analyst report that Hershey could be "left at the altar," predicting a Cadbury merger with Kraft Foods.

Candymakers guard their recipes jealously, but Mars is known for its Wonka-like secrecy. Once Wrigley is absorbed into Mars -- the deal is expected to close in six to 12 months, the companies said -- it ceases to be a publicly traded company. "What little we know about Wrigley will disappear into the ether," Morris said.

Joel Glenn Brenner, author of "The Emperors of Chocolate," said yesterday that the Mars family had always been satisfied to let the company's products do the talking.

"It's a private company, and they feel very strongly about the private part," said Brenner, a former Washington Post reporter. "They don't want the company to go public -- ever."

The company declined further comment yesterday.

Founded by Frank Mars, the company expanded under his son, Forrest, who died in 1999. It now is run by Frank Mars's grandchildren and has only a few dozen employees in the Washington region. Last fall, Mars caused a stir in the chocolate industry by saying it would not change the constitution of its chocolate by substituting cheaper vegetable fat for the more expensive cacao fat, which would be allowed under a pending proposal at the Food and Drug Administration. Other chocolate makers said they might use the substitute.

The company has spent millions on scientific research promoting chocolate and cocoa-based flavanols, an antioxidant that may have health benefits. Between 1997 and 2007, Mars spent more than $10 million on cocoa-related research at the University of California at Davis, the Sacramento Bee reported last year.

In a telephone interview with CNBC yesterday, Buffett implied that Mars brought the deal to him about two months ago, seeking financing to close the transaction. He said Berkshire Hathaway would probably finance other deals.

"We fit very well as a partner for what the Mars family wanted to achieve in the purchase," Buffett said. He would hold an equity interest in the Wrigley subsidiary. "They needed somebody they felt comfortable with, that they knew the check would clear, that wouldn't interfere in any real way."

Mars and Wrigley fit the 77-year-old Buffett's pattern of buying into large, stable, iconic American brands. On CBNC yesterday, he said he had been conducting a "70-year taste test" on Mars and Wrigley products and said he went to his first baseball game at Chicago's Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs, when he was 9.

Buffett said he likes Wrigley's Spearmint and Juicy Fruit gums, "loves" Mars's Dove bar and has "gotten into Skittles lately," also made by Mars.

Buffett, a Washington Post Co. director, declined a request for comment.

Staff researcher Richard Drezen and graphics editor Karen Yourish contributed to this report.