FDBusiness.com

US-based Campbell Soup Company has agreed to sell its European simple meals business for Eur400 million to CVC Capital Partners, a leading global private equity firm.

CVC is acquiring Campbell’s national brands of soups, sauces and simple meals, including Liebig and Royco in France, Erasco in Germany, Bla Band in Sweden and Devos Lemmens and Royco in Belgium. The transaction also includes four plants in Puurs, Belgium; Le Pontet, France; Lubeck, Germany; and Karpalund, Sweden. Campbell intends to use the proceeds of the sale to pay down debt and for other general corporate purposes.

The agreement does not include Campbell’s recently-acquired Kelsen Group, which will continue its operations in Denmark and the export of its products to countries in Europe and throughout the world. Campbell will continue to export Pepperidge Farm products throughout Europe and Campbell’s products in the United Kingdom and the Middle East and Africa.

The Campbell businesses included in the deal generated annual net sales of approximately $530 million in fiscal 2013. The transaction is subject to clearance by the relevant European competition law authorities. Campbell anticipates that the transaction will be completed in the fourth quarter of calendar 2013.

Denise Morrison (pictured), president and chief executive of Campbell, comments: “This sale reflects a strategic choice. We are in the process of reshaping our portfolio to change Campbell’s future growth trajectory. As part of this effort, we will be focusing our investments, resources and talent on building the brands that we believe we can grow around the world, strengthening our core and expanding our business in faster-growing geographies and categories.”