Deals
Unilever Sells Spreads Business to KKR for $8.1 Billion
- Anglo-Dutch company sheds unit to focus on faster growth
- Deal is largest leveraged buyout this year in Europe
Flora margarine
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
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Unilever agreed to sell its margarine and spreads business to KKR & Co. for 6.83 billion euros ($8.1 billion), ridding the Anglo-Dutch consumer-goods giant of one of its worst-performing units as it focuses on faster-growing food and personal-care niches.
The private equity firm’s purchase of the division, whose brands include Flora and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!, is the biggest leveraged buyout announced in Europe this year. Completion is expected in the middle of 2018, the companies said in a statement Friday.