UK food manufacturer Uniq has put its St Ivel dairy business on the market with a provisional price tag of £100m (US$147m).
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The St Ivel division, which makes brands such as Utterly Butterly and Shape yoghurt, is just the latest dairy product unit to go up for sale following Northern Foods’s sale of its Ski brand to Nestlé earlier this year.
Uniq has laboured under heavy debts for several years, and new CEO Bill Ronald has opted for further divestments in a bid to reduce debt.
Switzerland’s Nestlé is expected to be among the bidders for St Ivel as the division would sit nicely alongside its existing dairy operations, and the group has also indicated that it is interesting in ramping up its European dairy business.
Having already sold its milk processing, pork processing and distribution arms, the latest divestment plans indicate that Uniq (formerly known as Unigate) will concentrate more intensely on its chilled convenience foods in the UK and Europe.
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By GlobalDataThe St. Ivel brands up for sale account for about a quarter of Uniq’s £1.3bn annual turnover.
