Maple Leaf Foods sells Canada Bread to Grupo Bimbo in $1.9B deal

TORONTO—Maple Leaf Foods Inc. has agreed to sell Canada Bread Co., Ltd. to Mexico-based food maker Grupo Bimbo in a deal worth about $1.9-billion.

The sale comes about five months after Maple Leaf announced it was exploring “strategic alternatives” that included a potential sale of its majority stake in the bakery business.

Grupo Bimbo, which owns brands like Sara Lee, offered $72 per share for Canada Bread.

Maple Leaf owns roughly 90 per cent of the Toronto-based bakery business.

“This transaction maximizes the value of our investment in Canada Bread and focuses Maple Leaf on building its leadership in the consumer packaged meats business,” Maple Leaf president and chief executive Michael McCain said in a statement.

According to Maple Leaf, its gross proceeds from the sale will be approximately $1.65-billion.

It said it expects cash costs of roughly $160-million related to the transaction.

“Grupo Bimbo is an excellent company with strong values and a global leadership position, with little overlap in our geographic markets,” Maple Leaf’s McCain said. “This makes for a highly complementary fit with our bakery operations and is expected to provide exciting opportunities for Canada Bread employees, customers and other business partners.”