Sara Lee Completes Sale of Majority of North American Foodservice Coffee Operations to the J.M. Smucker Company

Published on Tuesday, 03 January 2012 17:07 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill.-( Business Wire )-

Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE) announced today it has completed the sale of the majority of its North American Foodservice coffee and tea operations to The J.M. Smucker Company in an all-cash transaction. The two companies have also entered into a licensing and support agreement to cooperatively develop liquid coffee technologies to drive long-term growth. The sale was originally announced in Oct., 2011.

“The sale of a major part of our North American coffee business to Smucker is the latest example of CoffeeCo’s focus on creating the strongest possible pure-play company,” said Jan Bennink, executive chairman of the board, Sara Lee Corp. “We look forward to working with Smucker and to the promising future of our new independent coffee and tea company."

About Sara Lee Corporation

Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE) and it's leading portfolio of food and beverage brands, including Ball Park, Douwe Egberts, Hillshire Farm, Jimmy Dean, Pickwick Teas, Sara Lee and Senseo, generate nearly $9 billion in annual net sales from continuing operations and employ approximately 20,000 people worldwide. In January, 2011, Sara Lee Corp. announced that it will divide the company into two pure -play publicly-traded companies, one focused on the international coffee and tea market and the other on North American meats. For more information on the company, please visit www.saralee.com.

Sara Lee CorporationMedia: Mike Cummins, +1.630.598.8412orAnalysts: Melissa Napier, +1.630.598.8739