Frozen food company Findus is to be sold, two years after a previous attempt to sell the business was abandoned, according to the Sunday Times newspaper.
EQT, the Stockholm-based private-equity firm that bought Findus in 2000, is interviewing investment banks with the intention of selling its holding in the company later this year. Sources believe Findus will raise up to €750m (US£973m) in an auction, the paper said.
EQT, which is controlled by Sweden’s powerful Wallenberg family, recently sold the loss-making British arm of Findus to its management for an undisclosed amount, and has now decided to dispose of the rest of the business, it said.
Findus, which makes frozen pizzas, pasta dishes, pancakes and vegetables, has manufacturing operations in markets including Germany, France, Spain, Thailand, Australia and eastern Europe. In 2004, the company recorded sales of €559m, according to EQT.
EQT declined to comment on its plans for Findus.
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