Flowers Foods Inc. closed the sale of its Mrs. Smith's frozen desserts business and settled arbitration related to the former unit

Food & Drink Weekly, May 5, 2003

Flowers Foods Inc. closed the sale of its Mrs. Smith's frozen desserts business and settled arbitration related to the former unit. Flowers Foods said it will pay $9 million to Trans American Brokerage Inc. to settle arbitration involving a distribution dispute with Mrs. Smith's. The disagreement arose in early 2002 over Mrs. Smith's alleged cancellation of a 1999 sales-brokerage agreement. Flowers Foods had already recorded a $10 million charge in its 2001 financial statements to account for the probable costs of the dispute.

Separately, Flowers Foods said it completed its sale of Mrs. Smith's to privately held Schwan Food Co. for $240 million cash. The proceeds of the deal, first announced in January, will be used to cut debt.