General Mills to Sell Green Giant, Le Sueur for $765 Million
September 03 2015 - 8:11AM
Dow Jones News
By Chelsey Dulaney
General Mills Inc. has agreed to sell its Green Giant and Le
Sueur frozen and canned vegetable brands to B&G Foods Inc. for
$765 million in cash.
B&G, which owns food brands like Molly McButter and Pirate's
Booty, also expects $137 million in tax benefits from the deal.
After a transition period, the brands are expected to add $550
million to B&G's net sales and 60 cents a share to its
earnings. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
The deal comes as General Mills, the maker of brands including
Cheerios cereal and Hamburger Helper, struggles with changing
consumer tastes and a strong dollar.
The Minneapolis-based company has been cutting jobs and closing
plants as it struggles with Americans' growing aversion to packaged
foods.
In its fiscal fourth quarter that ended in May, General Mills
took a $260 million impairment charge related to the Green Giant
brand. The company redirected resources away from supporting Green
Giant, which caused it to review the business and determine it
wasn't worth what it once was.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at chelsey.dulaney@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 03, 2015 08:56 ET (12:56 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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