THE company behind frozen food business Birds Eye is reported to have been put up for sale with a price tag of up to �2.5billion.
The auction of Iglo Group, which is Europe’s largest frozen food company, follows a number of approaches to its private equity owner Permira.
It bought Iglo for 1.7 billion euros (�1.4 billion) in 2006 from Unilever and expanded the business by buying Findus Italy for 800 million euros (�669 million) in 2010.
Buy-out rivals such as Blackstone, BC Partners and Cinven are likely to participate in the auction, according to reports.
Iglo makes pea, poultry and potato waffle products at Lowestoft and has operations at Bremerhaven and Reken in Germany and Cisterna in Italy.
It is run by Martin Glenn, who is credited with revitalising the Walkers crisps brand in his time at PepsiCo.
Iglo sales in 2011 are thought to have beaten the 1.1 billion euro (�920 million) recorded the previous year, helped by the targeting of new markets such as Russia and Turkey.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here