Mondelez International has reportedly hired advisers to help with the potential sale of confectionery assets in Europe.
Sky News reported today (1 December) the US snacks giant had appointed Lazard to look into the disposal of brands in France, Spain and the Netherlands.
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The report claimed the brands under consideration to be sold include Terry’s, a chocolate brand that first hit the market in the UK in the 1930s. Production of brands sold under Terry’s was moved outside the UK to continental Europe in the noughties.
Mondelez had not returned a request from just-food for comment on today’s report at the time of writing.
The speculation follows a report in October Mondelez was mulling the sale of confectionery operations in France.
According to French business publication Challenges, the US snacks giant put up for sale a business unit that includes the French brands Carambar and Krema.
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By GlobalDataWhen contacted by just-food at the time, Mondelez said it “could not comment on rumours or speculation”.
There was also speculation in October that Mondelez was planning to offload its European cheese and grocery business, which includes the Philadelphia brand.
Asked to confirm at the time whether Mondelez was considering selling the assets and had hired bankers to weigh up a move, a spokesperson told just-food: “Cheese and grocery is a good business, with solid margins and cash flow, and it helps to provide scale in some markets. The team is executing well, having posted solid growth in the second quarter and year-to-date. Our Philadelphia brand, for example, is up high-single digits year-to-date through June. With respect to market rumors, however, I’m not going to get into hypotheticals on specific assets.”
