Sara Lee Corp. to Sell Fresh Bakery Business in Spain and Portugal to Grupo Bimbo

UTRECHT, The Netherlands, October 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE) today announced an agreement to sell its fresh bakery businesses in Spain and Portugal to Mexico's Grupo Bimbo S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: BIMBO) for €115 million (approximately $154 million at current exchange rates) in cash. The agreement includes all Sara Lee fresh bakery brands in Spain and Portugal as well as seven manufacturing facilities. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearance, is expected to close within 60 days.

Sara Lee holds the number-one position among branded bakery manufacturers in Spain, with leading brands such as Bimbo, Martinez, Ortiz and Silueta. In fiscal 2011, the business generated net sales of $408 million. It employs approximately 2,000 people.  

"The move to Grupo Bimbo is a natural next step that can benefit the Sara Lee bakery team and brands in Spain and Portugal, as they would become part of an organization fully dedicated to the bakery category," said Jan Bennink, executive chairman of the board, Sara Lee Corp.  "Divesting the bakery businesses allows Sara Lee's international portfolio to become simpler and more focused on coffee and tea, the categories around which we are building a leading pure-play international company."

Sara Lee's remaining international bakery businesses headquartered in France and Australia remain the subject of a divestiture process and a strategic review, respectively. These two businesses generated aggregate revenue of approximately $318 million in fiscal year 2011, and sell products primarily in France, Sweden, Italy, Australia and New Zealand.

About Sara Lee Corporation

Each and every day, Sara Lee (NYSE: SLE) delights millions of consumers and customers around the world. The company has one of the world's best-loved and leading portfolios with its innovative and trusted food and beverage brands, including BallPark, Douwe Egberts, Hillshire Farm, Jimmy Dean, Sara Lee and Senseo. Collectively, our brands generate nearly $9 billion in annual net sales from continuing operations. Sara Lee has approximately 20,000 employees in its continuing operations worldwide. In January 2011, Sara Lee Corp. announced that it will divide the company into two pure-play publicly-traded companies. One company will be focused around the current International Coffee and Tea business, while the other company will be focused on the North American Retail Meats and North American Foodservice businesses. For more information on this news and on Sara Lee's brands, please visit http://www.saralee.com.