Unilever likely to raise $2bn from sales
collect more than $2bn from the sales of its USbakery business and
some of its European...
Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer products group, is likely to collect more than $2bn from the sales of its USbakery business and some of its European brands, the Financial Times reports. These sales are a condition for approval by the European Commission of the Unilever $21.3bn acquisition of Bestfoods last year. Campbell Soup, HJ Heinz and Nestle are understood to be competing for European brands including Oxo stock cubes, Lesieur mayonnaise and Batchelors Cup-A-Soup. Second-round bids were submitted last week for these brands which have annual sales of about $500m. The sales follow last year's of Bestfoods, the maker of Knorr bouillon and Hellmann's mayonnaise. Unilever has already sold its European bakery business to CSM of theNetherlands for about E700m. It has to sell the food brands as a condition for approval of the Bestfoods purchase by the European Commission.
