Unilever Completes Sale of North American Frozen Meals Business to ConAgra Foods
Anglo-Dutch consumer products conglomerate Unilever (LON:UL) recently completed the sale of its North American frozen meals business to ConAgra. [1] The business had revenues of around $300 million in the previous year, which made up around 3% of the company’s total revenues from its North American operations.
The $267 million deal includes a license for ConAgra foods to use the Bertolli brand name as well as a license from P.F. Chang’s to use the P.F. Chang’s brand name. However, Unilever will retain the Bertolli trademark, and intends to continue manufacturing Bertolli pasta sauce in its Kentucky facility.
The asset disposal is part of the company’s ongoing strategy to divest from its global frozen foods business. In 2010, Unilever offloaded its Italian frozen foods business to Birds Eye Iglo in a €805 million deal.
The company considers M&A activity as a key driver to improve Unilever’s portfolio. The sale of the frozen meals business allows it to focus on expanding in other business segments. It recently acquired Alberto Culver and Concern Kalina, with the aim of expanding its personal care brand portfolio and the segment’s market share in Russia.
We currently have a Trefis price estimate of $37 for Unilever, which is about 3% above the market price.
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Notes:- Unilever completes $267 mn sale of US frozen food portfolio, Yahoo! News, August 2012 [↩]