Unilever is preparing a 6 billion pound ($7.44 billion) sale of some of its food brands, British newspapers reported on Saturday.
The Anglo-Dutch company is planning to sell Flora margarine and Stork butter brands, the Sunday Times said.
The Sunday Telegraph, which also cited a 6 billion pounds figure, cited sources as saying private equity firms Bain Capital, CVC and Clayton Dubilier and Rice have started working on offers for the “spreads” business, citing sources.
Unilever did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The maker of Knorr soups, Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream rebuffed a surprise $143 billion takeover offer from Kraft Heinz last month.
The company has launched a business review to consider returning cash to shareholders, making medium-sized acquisitions and more aggressive cost cuts, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
By Andy Bruce
Source: Reuters
Schumacher will replace Alan Jope, who announced his decision to retire last September, less than a year after a failed attempt by Unilever to buy GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer healthcare business and just months after activist investor Nelson Peltz joined the company’s board.
Globally, plant-based ice creams have doubled their share of the market over the last five years, according to Tetra Pack. Pea protein and coconut milk are leading the way, but Tetra Pak cites data showing that oat-based ice cream launches have doubled in the previous year.
A myriad of so-called eco-labels are being rolled out across various F&B products, but with no gold standard or strict rules governing precisely what the logos mean and what methodology is behind them, concerns are growing that they will confuse consumers and ultimately be counterproductive.
