ConAgra Foods, Inc., Omaha, Neb., said it completed the sale of itsGilroy Foods & Flavorsdehydrated and vegetable product operations toOlam Internationalfor before-tax proceeds of $250 million in cash, net of transaction costs and subject to post-closing adjustments.
Officials noted that the seasoning blends and flavors business and supporting plant operations were not part of the sale and remain with ConAgra Foods’ Commercial Foods reporting segment.
ConAgra said it sold the assets of Gilroy Foods & Flavors’ dehydrated garlic, onion, capsicum and Controlled Moisture, GardenFrost, Redi-Made, and fresh vegetable operations, all of which were part of the Commercial Foods reporting segment. Sales for those operations were approximately $300 million in fiscal 2010.
Additional details of the completed transaction include:
Manufacturing facilities sold to Olam include: Gilroy, Hanford and Modesto, Calif.; Fernley, Nev.; Las Cruces, N.M.; and Umatilla, Ore. A warehouse in King City, Calif., also was included in the sale.
A total of approximately 1,500 employees transitioned to Olam, including plant employees and those supporting the dehydrated and vegetable products business located at the Omaha, Neb., headquarters and other satellite locations for Gilroy Foods.
Manufacturing facilities that werenot soldto Olam consist of the Carol Stream, Ill., Cranbury, N.J., and Hyrum, Utah, locations which produce seasoning blends and flavors. ConAgra Foods maintains full ownership of these plants and operations continue as usual within the Commercial Foods reporting segment.
Greg Estep, formerly president of the divested business for ConAgra Foods, is now president of spices and dehydrates for Olam International.
ConAgra said Paul Maass, president of ConAgra Mills, assumed the additional responsibility of leading the remaining seasoning blends and flavors business under the Spicetec Flavors & Seasonings brand name.
Olam International is a leading global integrated supply chain manager and processor of agricultural products and food ingredients, sourcing 20 products with a direct presence in 64 countries and supplying them to more than 10,600 customers.
With direct sourcing and processing in most major producing countries for its various products, Olam is a global leader in cocoa, coffee, cashew, sesame, rice, cotton and wood products. Headquartered in Singapore and listed on the SGX-ST on Feb. 11, 2005, Olam currently ranks among the top 40 largest listed companies in Singapore in terms of market capitalization and is a component stock in the Straits Times Index (STI), MSCI Singapore Free, S&P Agribusiness Index and the DAXglobal Agribusiness Index. More information on Olam can be found at www.olamonline.com.