Sweet deal: Mars buys Wrigley for $23B with Buffett's help

— -- Mars isn't buying Wrigley for its chewing gum. It bought Wrigley to chew up the growing snack food competition.

An enormous chunk of that business is dependent on the relatively small space available near the cash register at the supermarket or convenience store. Combining privately held Mars (Snickers, M&Ms and Mars) and family-controlled Wrigley (Wrigley's Spearmint, Orbit, Eclipse and Altoids) will offer greatly increased wallop in negotiating for that space with retailers.

Also getting a huge boost is the potential for new products from two companies that spend almost every waking moment trying to figure out how consumers want to feed their hunger pangs.

"These two companies don't want to be pigeonholed as sweet-candy companies," says John Clevenger, managing director at Meridian Consulting Group. "They want to compete for broader snacking occasions."

Do they ever.

"We'll be able to explore new categories that might have been beyond our reach in the past," said Bill Wrigley Jr., chairman of Wrigley's board, at a press conference Monday morning in Chicago.

Like what?

Wrigley didn't talk specifics. Nor did Paul Michaels, global president of Mars.

But Michaels did note, in a statement, that the two companies will be "jointly developing" products based on their shared values "even further."

Snacking-industry experts say the merger will push Wrigley and Mars to extend their reaches in new directions, such as:

•Fruit-flavored candy bars. With Wrigley's heritage in fruit-flavored gums, the company could help Mars develop all kinds of fruit-flavored candy bars, says Eric Zeitoun, president of Dragon Rouge, a brand consulting firm.