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Unilever PLC, 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0DY
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Unilever Agrees to Sell Ragu and Bertolli
Pasta Sauce Brands to Mizkan Group
London & Rotterdam - May 22, 2014 - 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.
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Media Contacts:
Unilever PLC (London): Lucila Zambrano +44 20 7822 5354 or Lucila.zambrano@unilever.com
Unilever NV (Rotterdam): Marc Potma +31 (0) 10 2174844 or mediarelations.rotterdam@unilever.com
Unilever North America (Englewood Cliffs, NJ): Anita Larsen +1 201-894-7760 or MediaRelations.USA@unilever.com
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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 2014 led the list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders in the GlobeScan/SustainAbility annual survey - for the fourth 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.
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