Sara Lee Corp. is seeking a buyer for its bread business, a move that could lead to the breakup or sale of the entire company.
Hostess Brands Inc. and Campbell Soup Co.'s Pepperidge Farm showed interest in the business in recent weeks after Downers Grove-based Sara Lee began soliciting bids, Crain's has learned. Other potential buyers include Grupo Bimbo S.A. de CV, Flowers Foods Inc. and private-equity firms.
With $2 billion in sales, Sara Lee's third-largest business line could fetch between $1.1 billion and $1.6 billion, or up to $2.4 billion if the company improves the slow-growing unit's low profit margins, according to an analysis by New York-based Bernstein Research.
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