Unilever Seeks Buyer for Its Skippy Brand

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By Trey Thoelcke Updated Published
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Unilever PLC (NYSE: UL) is reportedly in search of a buyer for its North American peanut butter brand Skippy. The consumer goods giant has hired Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) to help conduct the sale, which is expected to fetch $300 million to $400 million.

In the year that ended on September 29, Skippy had revenue of $300 million and 18.1% of the peanut butter market in the United States, though that excludes sales at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT). That is second to J.M. Smucker Co.’s (NYSE: SJM) Jif brand, which held 34% of the market during that period.

Thought Unilever is not exiting the food business altogether, the company is reducing some of its food assets in order to focus more on its core health and beauty offerings. In August, ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) agreed to acquire the Bertolli and P.F. Chang’s brands from Unilever for $265 million. Unilever previously divested its European frozen foods business.

Unilever’s food business, which includes brands such as Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Ragu pasta sauce, was responsible for 30% of the company’s sales last year and 39% of adjusted operating profit. But in 2011, food was Unilever’s only segment to post a decline in sales by volume.

Shares of Unilever are up less than 1% in premarket trading to $37.07, in a 52-week range of $30.60 to $37.39. Analysts polled by Thomson/First Call have a mean price target of only $36.93 on the shares.

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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