Unilever PLC (UL) is seeking a buyer for its Wish-Bone
salad-dressing business, the latest well-known food brand the
Anglo-Dutch conglomerate has put on the block as it shifts its
focus more toward personal-care products, according to people
familiar with the matter.
Unilever has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) to try to find
a buyer for the business, which is expected to fetch hundreds of
millions of dollars in a sale, the people said. It's unclear which,
if any, big food companies or private-equity firms might be
interested in the business.
Unilever's personal-care business counts brands including Degree
deodorant, Caress soap and Vaseline. As part of the company's
reorientation toward that business, Unilever has struck deals
including the $3.7 billion acquisition of hair-care firm Alberto
Culver Co. in 2010.
A sale of Wish-Bone would follow Unilever's sale of its Skippy
peanut-butter business to Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL) earlier this
year for $700 million. Last year, it sold its North American frozen
meals business to ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG) for roughly $265
million.
Mergermarket earlier reported on the possible Wish-Bone
sale.
Wish-Bone got its start as an Italian salad-dressing maker in
1945, according to the company's website. In 1957, Lipton, now a
Unilever holding, bought the business.
Unilever does not break out Wish-Bone's revenues or other
financials.
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