The final bids for Unilever’s Findus Italian division, which was put up for sale earlier this year, are due on 6 July. The sale is likely to attract interest from private equity-owned rivals Birds Eye Iglo and, confusingly, Findus.
Both Birds Eye Iglo, which is owned by private equity company Permira, and Lion Capital owned Findus Group – a completely separate company from Findus Italy – are likely to submit bids. It has been reported that private equity companies BC Partners, Charterhouse Capital Partners and PAI Partners may also bid. Findus Italy is Unilever’s only remaining frozen food asset after it sold its Birds Eye division to Permira in 2006 for £ 1.2bn.
Last year, Birds Eye Iglo saw sales of £ 1.15bn. In the UK alone, the company sold almost 600m individual fish fingers and 43m bags of garden peas last year.
Source: Telegraph/This is London
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