Unilever to sell Bestfoods Baking Company to George Weston Limited
In October 2000, Unilever said it would divest the Bestfoods Baking Company, which it acquired as part of its merger with Bestfoods, as it fell outside its Path to Growth strategy that focuses on a number of leading brands in defined core categories of Foods and Home and Personal Care.
The Bestfoods Baking Company is one of the leading premium fresh baked goods companies in the United States. Its best-known brands are Entenmann's sweet baked goods, Thomas' English muffins, bagels and waffles and Oroweat, Brownberry and Arnold breads.
Patrick Cescau, Unilever's Foods Director said: ``This is a very strong business that happens to fall outside of our foods strategy to focus on leading brands in core categories, such as Lipton, Knorr, Slim-Fast and Hellmann's. We believe the acquisition by Weston will provide the bakery business with a strong platform for growth.''
Unilever said the Bestfoods Baking Company operates as a stand-alone operation. It is headquartered in Bay Shore, New York, employing some 12,000 people at 19 plants across the US. It has one of the country's largest and most efficient direct-store-delivery systems, distributing fresh bakery products to more than 60,000 customers on almost 5,000 delivery routes.
In 2000, Bestfoods Baking Company had sales of US$1.8 billion, EBITDA of US$203 million and EBIT of US$141 million.
Goldman Sachs has advised Unilever on this transaction.
The agreement to sell the Bestfoods Baking Company follows Unilever's recent announcement of the completion of the sale of its European Bakery Supplies and Elizabeth Arden businesses, and the agreement to sell certain European soup and sauces businesses. Together with this transaction, the cumulative divestiture proceeds since the acquisition of Bestfoods, is approximately Euro 4 billion.
UNILEVER BACKGROUND: Unilever is one of the world's largest consumer products companies with annual sales of approximately $46 billion in 2000. It produces and markets a wide range of foods and home and personal care products. Unilever operates in 88 countries around the globe and employs approximately 300,000 people.
In the United States, Unilever sales were approximately $11 billion in 2000. It employs some 28,000 people and has 104 offices and manufacturing sites in 27 states. Some of their major products are: Unilever Bestfoods - North America: Lipton teas, soups, recipe products and side dishes; Wish-Bone salad dressings; Lawry's seasonings and specialty sauces; Imperial, Promise, Country Crock, ``I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!'', Brummel & Brown spreads and sprays; Ragu pasta and pizza sauces; Five Brothers premium pasta sauces; Knorr soups, sauces and bouillons; Hellmann's mayonnaise and dressings; Skippy peanut butter; Bertolli Olive Oil and Mazola oils; Entenmann's, Thomas' and Arnold baked goods; Klondike, Good-Humor, Popsicle, Breyers and Ben & Jerry's ice cream products; Gorton's frozen seafood products and Slim-Fast nutritional and health snack products. Unilever Home and Personal Care - North America: Wisk, ``all'' and Surf laundry detergents; Snuggle fabric softener; Sunlight dish detergents; Lever 2000, Caress, Dove, Degree, Pond's and Vaseline skin care, deodorant and soap products; Q-tips cotton swabs and cotton balls; Mentadent oral care products; Finesse, Salon Selectives, Suave and ThermaSilk hair care products; and Calvin Klein, Nautica, Vera Wang cosmetic and fragrance products. In addition, DiverseyLever, a global professional cleaning business, operates in North America, supplying professional cleaning materials and services to institutional and industrial markets.