United Biscuits on the block
UNITED Biscuits, the snack food firm whose products include Jaffa Cakes and Hula Hoops, is up for sale.
Private equity firms Blackstone and PAI Partners, who bought the company for £1.6bn in 2006, are looking for offers of £2bn and above.
Banks including Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, are said to be competing for the contract to handle the sale plans which will begin in the autumn and conclude early next year.
United Biscuits’ range of well-known brands includes McVitie’s, Jacob’s, Carr’s, McCoy’s, KP, Mini Cheddars and the lower-fat Go Ahead range. Blackstone and PAI Partners would be prepared to sell the firm’s snacks division and its biscuits unit to different buyers, it is understood.
United Biscuits was founded in 1948 following the merger of two Scottish family businesses – McVitie & Price and MacFarlane Lang.