UK: Reckitt Benckiser plans to sell food business

British consumer goods multinational, Reckitt Benckiser is considering the sale of its food division to help pay for the $16.6 billion acquisition of baby food maker Mead Johnson Nutrition, according to a report in Bloomberg.

The food business, which includes French’s mustard and ketchup, had sales of £411 million ($515 million) last year, and could be sold for more than £2.4 billion ($3 billion) according to sources quoted by the news agency .

Reckitt Benckiser, the manufacturer of brands like Dettol, Durex and Nurofen, plans to sell its food business “as it no longer considers it core to a business increasingly focused on consumer health”, the report continues.

Source: Bloomberg