Grupo Bimbo: BBU receives Approval for Divestitures

Mexico City / MX. (gb) Grupo Bimbo S.A.B. de C.V. announced that BBU Inc., its business in the United States, has obtained approval from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to complete additional divestitures required by the DOJ in connection with BBU´s November 2011 acquisition of Sara Lee Corporation´s North American Fresh Bakery business (NAFB). The approved transaction includes perpetual, exclusive, and royalty-free licenses to the Sara Lee and Earthgrains brands for sliced breads, buns, and rolls in the state of California, and a perpetual and royalty free license to the Earthgrains brand in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, both to Flowers Foods Inc. of Thomasville, Georgia. These assets generated approximately seven percent of NAFB´s two billion USD of sales generated in fiscal 2011. The transactions will be completed in phases. The Oklahoma City license will be completed shortly and the first phase of the California transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013. This follows the May announcement of DOJ´s approval of divestitures in Central Pennsylvania and Omaha. The final remaining divestiture required by the DOJ in Kansas City is still pending.