FDBusiness.com

UK private equity firm Lion Capital is reported to have decided against disposing of the Nordic unit of its Findus frozen foods group. The Nordic business attracted a number of suitors, including Nestle and Norwegian group Orkla, but no agreement was reached on price.

The sale was expected to raise between Eur700 million and Eur800 million with the proceeds being used to reduce Findus’ debt of £721 million. Lion Capital will now inject £75 million to £100 million in capital into Findus to ease the debt burden.

Findus is the leading branded frozen food manufacturer in the Nordic region, with market leadership in Sweden, Norwayand Finland in each of the frozen ready meals, fish and vegetables segments in which it operates. Findus has a strong presence in France, where it has the strongest brand recognition of any frozen food brand. In the UK, the Findus brand was brought back under direct control of the Findus Group in April 2009. Findus Group also owns Young’s Seafood, the UK’s largest supplier of fish and seafood.