Sara Lee sells Body Care and European Detergents to Unilever for $1.6 billion

Sara Lee sells Body Care and European Detergents to Unilever for $1.6 billion

2010-12-06 22:00:17 GMT+7 (ICT)

DOWNERS GROVE, ILLINOIS (BNO NEW) — Sara Lee Corp. on Monday announced it has completed the sale of its global Body Care and European Detergents businesses to Unilever for 1.21 billion euros ($1.6 billion).

In addition to the transaction, the company has announced and closed transactions for its air care business, which was sold to Procter & Gamble for 320 million euros ($425 million), and its stake in the Indian insecticides joint venture Godrej Sara Lee, which was sold to Godrej for 185 million euros ($245.6 million).

Sara Lee also announced the pending sale of its non-Indian insecticides business to SC Johnson for 153.5 million euro ($203.8 million). That deal is anticipated to close by the end of the current calendar year.

"The divestiture of our Body Care and European Detergents businesses further enables us to concentrate our efforts in key areas where we have a strong competitive position and can generate significant shareholder value," said Marcel Smits, interim chief executive officer of Sara Lee Corp.

"We remain focused on aggressively driving growth in our core coffee and protein categories," Smits added as the transaction forms part of Sara Lee's ongoing process of divesting its Household and Body Care businesses.

Sara Lee further announced that it has received significant interest in the remainder of its household business, primarily shoe care and Asian cleaning brands, and is continuing to pursue divestiture options for this business.

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