Britain’s largest biscuits manufacturer, United Biscuits, could be broken up in a renewed effort for a sale.
Private equity owners PAI Partners and Blackstone are considering breaking the company up and selling off divisions to generate £2 billion.
The break up would involve PAI Partners and Blackstone holding on to the larger biscuit business until 2013.
News of a potential sale
first emerged in July 2010, and while there has been interest from third parties on various occasions, none of them has taken a bite.
Chinese foods group Bright Food had been in exclusive talks for a £2.5 billion deal last year, which would have included debts, but the discussions failed.
The difficulty in securing a taker for the biscuits business has been put down to a lack of appetite for big deals. One banker said to the Financial Times: “There’s not a great deal of trade interest. That leaves private equity, and there is no money there. So the deals happening at the moment are relatively small and United Biscuits is a big beast.”
Potential trade buyers have included US food groups Kraft, the Campbell Soup Company, and Kellogg’s.
United Biscuit’s numerous brands include Penguin, Jaffa Cakes, Carrs, McVitie’s, Twiglets, Hula Hoops and Go Ahead.
