Reuters – Kraft Foods Sells Majority of ‘Back to Nature’ Brand

Kraft Foods Inc. said on Tuesday it would sell a majority stake in its ‘Back to Nature’ food brand to U.S. private equity firm Brynwood Partners for an undisclosed amount, Reuters reported Wednesday. The decision to sell the stake in one of its smaller brands comes ahead of Kraft’s split into two companies, one handling snacks and one groceries, scheduled for October.

(Reuters) – Kraft Foods Inc said on Tuesday it would sell a majority stake in its ‘Back to Nature’ food brand to U.S. private equity firm Brynwood Partners for an undisclosed amount.

The decision to sell the stake in one of its smaller brands comes ahead of Kraft’s split into two companies, one handling snacks and one groceries, scheduled for October.

The snack business, which will have $32 billion in annual revenue from products including Cadbury chocolate, Oreo cookies and Trident chewing gum, will be renamed Mondelez.

Kraft said in an email to Reuters it will hold a “substantial” minority stake in Back to Nature, which makes cookies, crackers and pasta dinners. It did not give details of the reason for the sale.

Kraft will have a representative on Back to Nature’s board, it said. A formal announcement of the deal is expected on Wednesday.

Brynwood Partners has over $500 million of assets under management, and concentrates on consumer products, business services and light manufacturing.