Frozen food business changes hands
By Food in Canada staff
Business Operations Bake & Snack Food acquisition frozen food pastaConAgra acquires Unilever’s North American frozen foods business
Omaha, Neb. – ConAgra Foods Inc. is buying Unilever Plc’s North American frozen food business for $265 million.
The transaction, which is scheduled to close in the third quarter of 2012, includes a licence to use the premium Bertolli brand name, and the transfer of a licence to use the P.F. Chang’s Home Menu brand name. Unilever will continue to own the Bertolli trademark, and will operate its existing pasta sauce business.
The deal will allow ConAgra, which already has several frozen food lines, to expand further into the premium frozen meal category. It is the fifth acquisition for the company in the past year.
While Unilever will maintain its production facility in Owensboro, Ky., where the Bertolli and P.F. Chang lines are currently made, production of both brands will relocate to a ConAgra facility.
The sale is part of Unilever’s plan to exit the sector. The company sold its European frozen foods business in 2006.
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