Campbell Soup is reportedly in advanced talks to sell Bolthouse Farms to an investor group led by Bolthouse's former CEO for roughly $500 million, according to a person familiar with the matter, reports CNBC. Campbell paid $1.6 billion for Bolthouse Farms in 2012 when the brand had more than $100 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
The deal would mark the end to a strategy heralded by former CEO Denise Morrison, who pushed the soup company to take cash flow from its profitable but slowing soup business and invest it into more on-trend areas of the grocery store like fresh food. However, the fresh food industry proved to be a poor fit for Campbell, as it requires expertise in agriculture that Campbell lacked. An ill-timed California drought further exacerbated Campbell's challenges with Bolthouse. Full Story
Related: Campbell Sells Garden Fresh Gourmet; Campbell Soup Co. Sells Soup Plant.
from Specialty Food News http://bit.ly/2DbHIq2
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