January 28/Downers Grove, Ill./London Stock Exchange Aggregated Regulatory News Service (ARNS) -- Sara Lee Corp. announced that its board of directors has agreed in principle to divide the company into two separate, publicly traded companies. The separation is expected to be completed in early calendar year 2012. Each company will have leading consumer brands, compelling growth prospects and strong potential to deliver long-term value to shareholders, a release noted.
Under the plan approved by its board, Sara Lee's North American Retail and North American Foodservice businesses (excluding the North American beverage business) will be spun off, tax-free, into a new public company that will retain the "Sara Lee" name. Its leading brands will include Sara Lee, Jimmy Dean, BallPark, Hillshire Farm, Chef Pierre and State Fair. The new company would have reported approximately $4.1 billion in revenue in fiscal 2010.