Northern Foods disposal

Northern Foods has reached agreement for the proposed disposal of its speciality breads, chilled pastry, cakes and flour milling businesses for a gross consideration of £160 million (£236m).

The transaction is expected to complete in January 2007 and is subject to approval by the shareholders of Northern Foods.
Together with the disposal of the business and assets of NFT Distribution in August 2006, total gross disposal proceeds of £312 million will have been raised.
After fees and expenses, total net proceeds of the overall disposal program will have exceeded £300 million.
The proposed disposal is in line with Northern Foods’ business review and it
will complete the sale of businesses representing about 40% of sales, allowing the company to focus around five core categories where it has strong leading brands “ pizza, biscuits, ready meals, sandwiches/salads and puddings.
œThis disposal completes our divestment program. We can now focus all our
attention on our core categories to build a competitive and resilient Northern Foods, says Pat O’Driscoll, CEO of Northern Foods.