Content area
Full Text
Unilever plc, the Anglo-Dutch food and consumer products conglomerate, is about to sell its Mazola corn oil product line to Dallas buyout firm Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc. for about $300 million, according to a source.
Mazola is one of a batch of product lines Unilever put up for sale in May 2001. Mazola is the world's most popular corn oil brand with annual revenues of about $120 million.
The source said Mazola would fetch a price of $300 million or so, based on a likely deal multiple of five or six times annual Ebitda. That implies the line's cash flow is between $50 million and $60 million per year.
A spokeswoman at Unilever declined to comment on the matter. Hicks, Muse officials weren't available.
Mazola is the latest brand from its Bestfoods acquisition that...