Sara Lee Corporation announced today that it has completed the sale of its branded apparel business in Europe to an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc., a leading, U.S. private investment firm based in Boca Raton, Fla. The Sun Capital affiliate paid Sara Lee approximately €100 million in cash plus potential contingent payments based on the future performance of the business. “The sale of the European branded apparel business furthers Sara Lee’s strategy to simplify our portfolio and focus on growing our core food, beverage, and household and body care businesses,” said Brenda C. Barnes, chairman and chief executive officer, Sara Lee Corporation.
“As we approach the one-year milestone of transforming Sara Lee into a more disciplined, high-performing company, I
|
| am pleased with the improvements that have been made and the results that have been delivered by Sara Lee employees around the world in such a short amount of time.” The enterprise being sold by Sara Lee includes its European-based branded apparel business with key markets in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and throughout Eastern Europe. With such well-known brands as Dim, Playtex, Wonderbra, Lovable, Abanderado, Nur Die and Unno, this business generated nearly $1.2 billion in sales in fiscal year 2005, which ended July 2, 2005. Sara Lee Courtaulds, the U.K.-based division that manufactures private-label clothing for retailers, is not part of this sale. The company continues to explore its options in regard to the sale of the Sara Lee Courtaulds business, which generated nearly $560 million in sales in fiscal year 2005. 
|
|
