Unilever to Sell Food Brands
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AMSTERDAM — Consumer products maker Unilever said Monday that it had reached a deal to sell the bulk of its European frozen food businesses, including the Iglo and Birds Eye brands, to private equity investor Permira Advisors for 1.73 billion euros, or about $2.2 billion.
Chief Executive Patrick Cescau said Unilever was selling the businesses to focus on others it considers more central to its portfolio.
Unilever, which makes products including Dove soaps and Lipton teas, said the deal excluded ice-cream products -- such as Ben & Jerry’s -- and its Italian operations.
Unilever said the businesses being sold had operating profit of 174 million euros in 2005 on sales of 1.24 billion euros.
Unilever, with headquarters in Amsterdam and London, said in February that it intended to sell the operations.
Shares of Unilever, which also makes Hellmann’s mayonnaise, Knorr soups, Bertolli olive oil and Axe deodorants, rose 27 cents to $23.67
Since 2000, Unilever has bet heavily on its biggest brands, weeding out its top 400 from more than 1,500 and spending more on advertising those that remain.
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