George Weston finds buyer for bread business at $1.2B
BNN Bloomberg
George Weston Ltd. has found a buyer for the bulk of its bakery business, which is home to several well known bread brands.
George Weston Ltd. has found a buyer for the bulk of its bakery business, which is home to several well known bread brands.
After putting Weston Foods up for sale in March, the company announced Tuesday it’s selling the fresh and frozen bakery units to FGF Brands Inc. – a Toronto-based, family-owned bakery founded in 2004 – for $1.2 billion.
The deal sees popular bread brands including Wonder, Ace Bakery, Country Harvest and D’Italiano, among others, change hands.
The units involved accounted for roughly 75 per cent of Weston Foods’ 2020 net sales, the company said in a release.
The parent company of Loblaw Companies Ltd., George Weston said it remains committed to selling other food businesses including its cookie and cracker units, as it intends to focus on its retail and real estate businesses.
"The Weston Foods business has been the foundation for the Weston Group in Canada since its establishment in 1882 and the decision to sell it was a difficult one" said Galen G. Weston, the company's chairman and chief executive officer, in a release. "However, we are pleased that the purchaser of the fresh and frozen businesses is FGF, another long-standing family business with a strong presence in bakery and a significant footprint in Canada.”
