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发帖数: 29846 | 1 Campbell Soup ready to say 'Au revoir, Europe'
Campbell Soup Co. plans to sell its European businesses, which generated
annual sales of $530 million last year.
Campbell Soup Co. said it is in final and exclusive negotiations for the
potential sale of its business in Europe to private equity firm CVC Capital
Partners.
Camden, N.J.-based Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) said CVC has made a firm offer
to purchase the business but didn’t disclose the offer price.
The company said the businesses generated annual net sales of $530 million
in fiscal 2012, while Campbell’s total sales for the year was $7.71 billion.
The deal would include Campbell’s brands of soups, sauces and simple meals,
including Liebig and Royco in France, Erasco in Germany, Blå Band in
Sweden and Devos Lemmens and Royco in Belgium. The proposal also includes
the sale of four plants in Puurs, Belgium; Le Pontet, France; Lubeck,
Germany; and Karpalund, Sweden.
The proposed transaction does not include the export of Pepperidge Farm
products throughout Europe or Campbell’s products in the United Kingdom or
the Middle East or Africa. It also does not include Kelsen Group, which will
continue its operations in Denmark and the export of its products to
countries in Europe and throughout the world.
Campbell said it expects that the proposed sale, which is subject to
approval by European regulators, would be completed in the first quarter of
its fiscal 2014.
Campbell in recent years has been trying to broaden its product line beyond
soups including its recent acquisition of the Plum Organics baby food line
and the $1.55 billion purchase last year of juice maker Bolthouse Farms. In
July, said it was introducing more than 200 new products next year as it
expands into higher-growth segments.
The company in May reported a 2 percent increase in its fiscal third-quarter
profits to $181 million on revenue growth of 15 percent to $2.09 billion.
Founded in 1869, Campbell Soup’s brands include Campbell’s, Pepperidge
Farm, Arnott’s, V8, Bolthouse Farms, Plum Organics and Kjeldsens. |
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