Unilever Agrees to Sell Ragu and Bertolli Pasta Sauce Brands to Mizkan Group
22 Mai 2014 - 8:14AM
Business Wire
Unilever today announced that it has signed an agreement for the
sale of its North America pasta sauces business under the Ragu and
Bertolli brands to Mizkan Group for a total cash consideration of
approximately $2.15 billion. The annual turnover for Ragu and
Bertolli is more than $600 million.
The transaction includes two production facilities – a sauce
processing and packaging facility in Owensboro, Kentucky, and a
tomato processing facility in Stockton, California.
Kees Kruythoff, president of Unilever North America, said: “This
sale represents one of the final steps in reshaping our portfolio
in North America to deliver sustainable growth for Unilever, and
enables us to sharpen our focus within our foods business.The Ragu
and Bertolli business leads the pasta sauce category in the United
States, and we believe that the potential of both brands can be
fully realized with Mizkan.”
The transaction, subject to regulatory approval and customary
closing conditions, is expected to close by the end of June.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT
This announcement may contain forward-looking statements,
including ‘forward-looking statements’ within the meaning of the
United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Words such as ‘will’, ‘aim’, ‘expects’, ‘anticipates’, ‘intends’,
‘looks’, ‘believes’, ‘vision’, or the negative of these terms and
other similar expressions of future performance or results, and
their negatives, are intended to identify such forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon current
expectations and assumptions regarding anticipated developments and
other factors affecting the Unilever group (the “Group”). They are
not historical facts, nor are they guarantees of future
performance.
Because these forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties, there are important factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by
these forward-looking statements. Among other risks and
uncertainties, the material or principal factors which could cause
actual results to differ materially are: Unilever’s global brands
not meeting consumer preferences; Unilever’s ability to innovate
and remain competitive; Unilever’s investment choices in its
portfolio management; inability to find sustainable solutions to
support long-term growth; customer relationships; the recruitment
and retention of talented employees; disruptions in our supply
chain; the cost of raw materials and commodities; the production of
safe and high quality products; secure and reliable IT
infrastructure; successful execution of acquisitions, divestitures
and business transformation projects; economic and political risks
and natural disasters; financial risks; failure to meet high
ethical standards; and managing regulatory, tax and legal matters.
Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting the
Group are described in the Group’s filings with the London Stock
Exchange, Euronext in Amsterdam and the US Securities and Exchange
Commission, including the Group’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for
the year ended 31 December 2013 and Annual Report and Accounts
2013. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of
this announcement. Except as required by any applicable law or
regulation, the Group expressly disclaims any obligation or
undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any
forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change
in the Group’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in
events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is
based.
About Unilever
Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home
and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries. We
work with 173,000 colleagues around the world and generated annual
sales of €49.8 billion in 2013. Over half of our company’s
footprint is in the faster growing developing and emerging markets
(57% in 2013). Working to create a better future every day, we help
people feel good, look good and get more out of life. Our portfolio
includes some of the world’s best known brands, 14 of which -
Knorr, Persil / Omo, Dove, Sunsilk, Hellmann’s, Surf, Lipton,
Rexona / Sure, Wall’s ice cream, Lux, Flora / Becel, Rama / Blue
Band, Magnum and Axe / Lynx - now generate a turnover of €1 billion
or more.
Our ambition is to double the size of our business, whilst
reducing our overall environmental footprint (including sourcing,
consumer use and disposal) and increasing our positive social
impact. We are committed to helping more than a billion people take
action to improve their health and well-being, sourcing all our
agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020, and decoupling our
growth from our environmental impact. Supporting our three big
goals, we have defined seven pillars, underpinned by targets
encompassing social, environmental and economic areas. See more on
the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan at
www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/.
Unilever has been recognised in the Dow Jones Sustainability
World Indexes for 14 consecutive years. We are included in the
FTSE4Good Index Series and attained a top environmental score of 5,
leading to inclusion in the FTSE4Good Environmental Leaders Europe
40 Index. Unilever has been named sector leader of the CDP’s
Forests programme for three consecutive years, and in 2013 led the
list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders in the
GlobeScan/SustainAbility annual survey - for the third year
running. Unilever was named LinkedIn’s third most sought-after
employer worldwide in 2013.
For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit
www.unilever.com.
About Mizkan
The Mizkan Group is a 200-year old privately held international
food manufacturer, based in Handa City, Japan. The Mizkan Group has
a stable of well-known international brands, under the "Mizkan"
umbrella brand and is a leader in the liquid condiment category.
The Mizkan Group has operating facilities around the globe,
including Japan, China, the United Kingdom, the United States,
Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong & Taiwan. The Mizkan Group has
six offices, 17 factories and 2,900 staff in Japan, North America,
Europe and Asia Pacific. More information about The Mizhan Group
can be found at www.mizkan.com.
Media:Unilever PLC (London):Lucila Zambrano, +44 20 7822
5354Lucila.zambrano@unilever.comorUnilever NV (Rotterdam):Marc
Potma, +31 (0) 10
2174844mediarelations.rotterdam@unilever.comorUnilever North
America (Englewood Cliffs, NJ):Anita Larsen, +1
201-894-7760MediaRelations.USA@unilever.com
Unilever NV (NYSE:UN)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jun 2024 bis Jul 2024
Unilever NV (NYSE:UN)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jul 2023 bis Jul 2024