Unilever puts Italian firm on block
Consumer goods giant Unilever is set to put its Italian frozen foods unit up for sale next week with private equity groups Permira and Lion Capital likely to lead the €600m plus (£527.6m) auction, sources close to the situation said yesterday. Permira, which owns Birds Eye Iglo, and Lion Capital which runs Findus Group are expected to lead bidding for the Unilever business, which analysts have priced at €600m-€700m. “We expect the information memorandum to go out next week and kick-off the auction process,” said one source with knowledge of the situation.