Kraft Heinz working on Plasmon baby-food sale

The company has appointed investment bank Houlihan Lokey to assist the business on a possible disposal.

Kraft Heinz could not be reached for comment at the time of writing. Houlihan Lokey declined to comment when approached by Just Food.

In 2019, it was reported Kraft Heinz had put Plasmon up for sale shortly after the US giant appointed FMCG veteran Miguel Patricio as CEO.

Kraft Heinz never publicly acknowledged the plan. Reports later in the year said the idea had been shelved.

By early December, it emerged the group was planning to invest €10m ($10.4m) in Plasmon’s procurement and production.

Speaking at the CAGNY investment conference in Florida yesterday (18 February), Kraft Heinz CFO Andre Maciel said the ketchup maker had “actively rotated nearly 20% of our total business over the past six years”.

He added: “When it comes to portfolio management, our priority is to do M&A that strengthens and accelerates our organic growth strategy. We have defined strategic and financial parameters for both acquisitions and divestitures.

“Our criteria for either potential acquisitions or partnerships is aligned to our portfolio strategy, sufficient scale while remaining accretive with a bias towards bolt-ons. In the case of divestitures, our strong balance sheet position us to take a disciplined approach to fair valuation.”

Last week, Kraft Heinz posted lower full-year profits linked to $3.7bn in non-cash impairment losses.

In the fourth quarter alone, the company recorded a $1.4bn impairment on its Oscar Mayer brand.

For the full year, operating profit slid 63.2% to $1.7bn, based on sales revenue of $25.8bn. Net income attributable to common shareholders was $2.74bn, a decrease of 3.9% on 2023.

Reported sales were down to the tune of 3%, with organic growth dropping 2.1%.