‘United Biscuits faces break up and sale’
FOOD company United Biscuits, owner of McVities and KP Crisps, could be split up by its private equity owners, according to reports.
The Sunday Times said Blackstone and PAI Partners are looking for an exit, with a break-up one option. The pair bought United for £1.6bn in 2006.
United, which has 7,000 staff has several factories and bases in the North West including a group business service centre in Liverpool, a Jacobs bakery in Aintree, a McVities factory in Carlisle and a Jaffa Cakes bakery on Crossley Road, Manchester. The company generates sales of around £1.3bn a year.
The newspaper said Blackstone and PAI Partners plan to begin talks about selling UB, maker of Hula Hoops and Jaffa Cakes, at the end of the year and could split its McVities biscuit unit from the KP crisps division to facilitate a deal.
The buyout firms hoped to raise £2bn from a sale of UB – the country’s biggest buscuit maker – last year, but interest from potential suitors including China’s Bright Foods, Kelloggs, Kraft and Campbell Soup Co failed to deliver a deal.
As well as the McVities brand, the biscuits division includes Penguin, while the snacks business includes Hula Hoops and McCoys as well as KP.
Other bidders could include Intersnack, which owns Kettle chips and the Penn State pretzel brand.
Advisers from Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan will begin working on the deal in the next few months.
