Ohio-Based Spangler Candy Buys Bankrupt NECCO For $18.8 Million

The Northwest Ohio candy company behind Dum Dum lollipops bought the maker of NECCO Wafers and Sweethearts in a bankruptcy auction this week.

Spangler Candy Company, based in Bryan, Ohio, made a winning offer of $18.8 million for New England Confectionery Company of Revere, Massachusetts.

The deal is expected to close Friday.

NECCO filed for Chapter 11 earlier this year after two packaging companies and a logistics firm took it to court over $1.6 million in unpaid debts. 

In a bid filed in court last week, Spangler professed to produce 12 million Dum Dums a day. The company employs 500 people in Ohio and 230 in Juarez, Mexico, according to the bid.

Spangler president Kirk Vashaw wrote in the bid that the company would “develop key NECCO brands” while also selling assets to third parties. Spangler would continue to run NECCO production at least through the fall.

But the price of NECCO candies may be going up.

The bid said that Spangler could generate more NECCO sales in the coming months, adding, “We also believe New Inventory can be sold at higher prices.”