Unilever considers sale of British brands Marmite, Bovril, Colman's: Report

Unilever is considering selling a group of British food brands, including Marmite, Colman's and Bovril, three people with knowledge of the matter said, as the consumer goods group looks to streamline its business.

 

DEAL DETAILS 

The London-listed company is considering shedding the century-old, yeast-based spread Marmite brand, the people said.

 

Marmite has a strong salty taste which divides opinion as Unilever's marketing has highlighted with a "You either love it or hate it" tagline.

 

English mustard maker Colman's and concentrated beef extract Bovril are also included in the potential sale, the sources said.

 

Unilever is looking to keep its Pot Noodle brand, two of the people said.

 

 

The package of UK assets is estimated to have about 200 million pounds ($261.30 million) worth of revenues, one of the people said.

 

Unilever declined to comment.

 

KEY CONTEXT

 

Home to about 400 brands worldwide, Unilever is recalibrating operations to focus on its top 30 "power" brands, particularly in Europe. 

Former CEO Hein Schumacher said last year the company was looking to sell several food brands with combined sales of around 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion).

 

Unilever installed a new CEO, former finance chief Fernando Fernandez, earlier this year.

 

Unilever is in the process of spinning off its ice cream unit, home to brands such as Magnum and Ben & Jerry's.