It's always fun to add a country to Life Savers exposure. Switzerland is well-known for its confectionery; however, that candy is often chocolate.

In this case, Nestlé acquired the Australian Life Savers operations.

The Australian Financial Times explained it this way:

"In November 1986, Nestl acquired Life Savers [Australasia] and set up a joint venture with Allen's Confectionery, which was owned by the cigarette maker Rothmans Holdings. Nestle's 50% stake in Allen Life Savers was controlled from its head office in Switzerland."

After 13 April 1988's attempted hostile takeover by Jacob Suchard:

"[Nestle] acquired Rowntree Hoadley[;] Nestle Australia paid $63.9 million for Rothmans' 50% stake in Allen and unveiled plans to merge the two confectionery companies."

This is a big deal, because Rowntree is the company produced Polo, the United Kingdom's version of Life Savers, after producing Life Savers.

January 1989 saw another switch, with leadership returning to Australia:

"David Thomson, president of Rowntree Plc's North American operation, arrived here [Sydney, Australia] in January 1989 as general manager of the merged operation."

Sources

Shoebridge, Neil, "Nestle-sweeps-out-the-lolly-shop-in-preparation-for-war, Australian Financial Times, 7 December 1990. Retrieved from https://www.afr.com/companies/nestle-sweeps-out-the-lolly-shop-in-preparation-for-war-19901207-kantd

Life Savers™️ is a trademarked name currently owned in the US by Mars Wrigley Confectionery, having been owned and/or licensed by many previous companies, varying by country.

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