Sara Lee Corporation Reaches Agreement to Sell Its European Nuts and Snacks Business to PepsiCo

Business Wire, Nov 22, 2005

CHICAGO -- Sara Lee Corporation (NYSE:SLE) announced today that it has reached agreement on the principal terms and conditions for the sale of its European nuts and snacks business in the Netherlands, Belgium and France to PepsiCo for EUR 130 million. Signing of a final agreement is still subject to the satisfactory outcome of the applicable works council proceedings. Furthermore, the prior approval of the Dutch Competitions Authority is required before the transaction can be implemented.

As part of Sara Lee's transformation plan announced in February, the company identified European nuts and snacks as a non-core business that would be sold. The European nuts and snacks business, which generated approximately EUR 88 million in annual sales in fiscal 2005, markets products under the Duyvis brand in the Netherlands and Belgium as well as the Benenuts brand in France.

"A critical element of our transformation strategy is to divest a number of businesses, including the European nuts and snacks enterprise, that are not in our core categories, so that Sara Lee is a more focused, more disciplined, high-performing company for our shareholders," said Brenda C. Barnes, chairman and chief executive officer of Sara Lee Corporation. "We look forward to productive and collaborative discussions with the appropriate works councils as we move forward with this transaction."

Sara Lee intends to use the proceeds from this sale to support its previously announced priorities for driving shareholder value through its dividend, a multi-year, $2 billion share repurchase program, debt repayment and investment in the company's core businesses.

Sara Lee Corporation (www.saralee.com) is a Chicago-based global manufacturer and marketer of high-quality, brand-name products for consumers throughout the world. In February 2005, the company began executing a bold and ambitious multi-year plan to transform Sara Lee into a company focused on its food, beverage, and household and body care businesses around the world. As part of its transformation plan, Sara Lee will drive growth in its key categories via such strong brands as Ball Park, Douwe Egberts, Hillshire Farm, Jimmy Dean, Kiwi, Sanex, Senseo and its namesake, Sara Lee.