UK/ITALY - Permira's BirdsEye and Lion's Findus interested in Findus Italy

Unilever mandated Goldman Sachs with the sale of its Italian frozen food subsidiary, which is expected to go on the block for EUR 500-800m, or the equivalent of 8-10x EBITDA (EUR 65-70m).

Unilever had retained the Italian unit when it divested BirdsEye to Permira for EUR 2.6bn in October 2006. The Italian division was then though to be "too integrated" into some of the group's ice cream division.

In July last year, Lion Capital acquired FoodVest Group, a frozen food manufacturer, from CapVest Ltd for £1.1bn, rebranding the company Findus Group on May this year. Financing for the deal was underwritten by JP Morgan with a debt package of £550m senior debt, including a £60m revolving credit facility, and a £180m mezzanine facility.

It was under CapVest ownership that FoodVest made the SEK 5bn acquisition of Findus AB from EQT in March 2006.

The Findus brand in Italy bears no relation to the wider Findus Group.

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