Zetar CEO Ian Blackburn has said the company is better placed to fulfil its expansion plans after being bought by German food group Zertus.

Following the £43m sale, the UK confectionery and snacks group will be run independently by the existing management team, with the financial backing to invest and make acquisitions.

“We’re just swapping 200 shareholders for one,” said Blackburn. “Zertus is a very large family business, with plenty of cash. Funds will be available to accelerate growth and to make acquisitions.”

Since it was founded in 2005, Zetar’s strategy has been to acquire businesses in the fragmented European confectionery market. The company owns Humdinger snacks and makes licensed confectionery such as Famous Grouse truffles and Tango chocolates, but has been unable to obtain finance to mount bids since the global financial crisis in 2008.

“Our share price has prevented us from making acquisitions. We’ve been consistently undervalued,” said Blackburn.

The 297p a share bid from Zertus valued Zetar at 26% above its Thursday closing price on the Alternative Investment Market.

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