Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale has reached an agreement to sell its Sara Lee Frozen Baker and Van’s brands to Kohlberg & Co., a private equity firm in Mount Kisco, New York.
Tyson announced in April it was trying to sell the brands, in addition to Kettle. It sold Kettle for $125 million; terms of the Sara Lee & Van’s deal were not announced Friday.
Tyson acquired Sara Lee and Van’s when it purchased Hillshire Brands Co. in 2014. The sale announced Friday includes the license to use Sara Lee in certain channels, the Chef Pierre and Bistro Collection brands, as well as two Tyson prepared-foods facilities in Michigan and North Carolina and a sales office in Canada.
Tyson said the more than 1,100 employees at those facilities are expected to keep their jobs. Kolhberg named C.J. Fraleigh, a former CEO at Sara Lee, as the new company’s executive chairman.
“These are great assets with outstanding team members; however, we’re focused on expanding Tyson Foods’ leadership position in protein,” said Sally Grimes, the company’s group president of prepared foods.
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