| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NYSE: SLE S&P 500 Component |
| Industry | Consumer goods |
| Founded | 1939 By Dale Rosenau |
| Headquarters | Downers Grove, Illinois, U.S. |
| Key people | James Crown (Chairman) Marcel Smits (Interim CEO) |
| Products | Food, beverage, and household and body care products |
| Revenue | US$ 10.793 billion (FY 2010)[1] |
| Operating income | US$ 918 million (FY 2010)[1] |
| Net income | US$ 642 million (FY 2010)[1] |
| Total assets | US$ 8.836 billion (FY 2010)[1] |
| Total equity | US$ 1.515 billion (FY 2010)[1] |
| Employees | 33,000 (2010)[1] |
| Website | SaraLee.com |
Sara Lee Corporation (NYSE: SLE) is a global consumer-goods company based in Downers Grove, Illinois, USA.[2][3] It has operations in more than 40 countries and sells its products in over 180 nations worldwide. Its international operations are headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands.
Sara Lee is also the brand name of a number of frozen and packaged foods, often known for the long-running slogan "Everybody doesn't like something, but nobody doesn't like Sara Lee," often incorrectly reported as "Nobody does it like Sara Lee."[4] In 2006, Sara Lee announced a new company wide campaign: "the joy of eating." The campaign is part of a restructuring at Sara Lee.
The company traces its lineage to 1939, when Nathan Cummings acquired C.D. Kenny Company, a wholesale distributor of sugar, coffee and tea in Baltimore, and created Consolidated Foods Corporation. In 1956 the company bought a company known as Kitchens of Sara Lee, which became one of the company's best-known brand names. In 1985 management adopted the brand name as the name of the corporation as a whole. As of 2006, Sara Lee Corporation has operations in more than 40 countries; sells food, beverage and household products in over 180 countries; and has some 40,000 employees worldwide.
In 2011, Sara Lee Corporation split into two companies--one for North American operations which would remain Sara Lee, the other for international beverage and bakery businesses.[5]
Contents |
Current members of the board of directors of Sara Lee are: Christopher B. Begley, Crandall Bowles, Virgis W. Colbert, James S. Crown, Laurette T. Koellner, Dr. John McAdam, Sir Ian Prosser, Rozanne L. Ridgway, Norman R. Sorensen, Jeffrey W. Ubben, Cees J.A. van Lede, Jonathan Ward.
|
|
|
Sara Lee Corporation announced in 2006 that it had completed the sale of its branded apparel business in Europe to an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc. Such brands included Dim, Playtex, Wonderbra, Lovable, Abanderado, Nur Die, Unno, Bellinda. Sara Lee Corporation has announced on Sept 28th, 2009, that it has received a binding offer for its Global Body Care and European Detergents to Unilever for €1.275 billion. On June 1, 2010 Sara Lee announced it had completed the sale of its 51 percent stake in its Godrej Sara Lee joint venture to Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. for a total consideration of €185 million ($230 million). On June 15, 2010, the company announced that it had received a binding offer of $153.5 million for its remaining insecticides business.[7] The offer is dependent on European Union antitrust approval; the decision is due May 2, 2011.[7] On July 5, 2010, Sara Lee completed the sale of its Ambi Pur air care business to Procter & Gamble for €320 million. The shoe care business remains under strategic evaluation looking for potential buyers.
On November 19, 2008, Sara Lee Corporation announced that it will close its kosher hot dog and meat processing facility in Chicago, on or before January 30, 2009. Sara Lee has decided to exit the kosher meat business and discontinue processing and distributing products made under all of its kosher meat brands, including: Best’s Kosher, Sinai Kosher, Shofar and Wilno.[8]
In 1986, Sara Lee bought the manufacturing and mail order operations of Wolferman's, a well-known maker of English muffins, that dated back to 1888.[9]
Brenda C. Barnes was named President and Chief Operating Officer of Sara Lee Corporation in 2004. The Senseo coffee system was launched in the United States, the United Kingdom and Denmark.
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. To support that focus, Sara Lee announced plans to dispose of approximately 40 percent of the company’s revenues, including its apparel, European packaged meats, U.S. retail coffee and direct selling businesses.
In addition, as part of the transformation, Sara Lee organized its operation around its customers, consumers and geographies to better serve the ever-changing global marketplace. Brenda C. Barnes was named president and chief executive officer of Sara Lee Corporation in 2005, and the corporation announced it selected a Downers Grove, Illinois, location as the new company headquarters, which will house the company’s North American operating businesses and the majority of Sara Lee’s corporate staff.
2005 also saw the debut of Sara Lee Soft & Smooth Made with Whole Grain White Bread. In October, Brenda C. Barnes succeeded C. Steven McMillan as chairman of Sara Lee Corporation. The year ended with the sale of Sara Lee’s direct selling business to Tupperware.
2006 featured the divestiture of Sara Lee's European meats and European branded apparel businesses. In addition, the corporation spun off to its shareholders the Branded Apparel, Americas/Asia, business, into a separate, publicly traded company called HanesBrands Inc. Including the spin-off, Sara Lee raises more than $3.7 billion in proceeds as part of the company’s transformation plan. In addition to the monetary benefits, the company is now tightly focused on its core businesses—food, beverage, and household and body care.
By 2009, Sara Lee was pursuing the sale of its Household and Body Care business in their continuing effort to focus on core business.[10] In April, Sara Lee launched a state-of-the-art research and development center named The Kitchens of Sara Lee, a 120,000-square-foot (11,000 m2) campus at the company’s headquarters in Downers Grove, Ill.[11]
On 25 September 2009, Sara Lee announced it accepted a binding offer by Unilever for €1.275 billion to sell its global body care and European detergents business.[12] The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and consultation with European employee works councils.[13]
On 9 November 2010, Sara Lee said that by selling its North American Fresh Bakery unit to Grupo Bimbo, it could grow in other areas. The $959 million deal gives Sara Lee the right to continue using the Sara Lee name on frozen desserts and meat products. Grupo Bimbo will use the Sara Lee name for fresh-baked products around the world except for Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The deal also means Grupo Bimbo gets 41 plants and the regional brands Grandma Sycamore's, Heiner's and Rainbo.[14]
On 28 January 2011, Sara Lee announced the company would be split into two units. The company said its North American operations (including Jimmy Dean, Ball Park and Hillshire Farm) would continue to use the Sara Lee name, while the international beverage and bakery businesses (including Douwe Egberts, Senseo, Pickwick, Maison du Café, L'OR, Café Pilão, and Marcilla) would constitute a separate unit to be named later. Some analysts claim splitting the business into two units would make a takeover more likely. Stockholders would have equal shares in both companies. Also, Marcel Smits, interim CEO since Barnes left due to a stroke, becomes the new CEO, and Jan Bennink becomes director and chairman.[5]
The company will move its headquarters back to Chicago in 2013.[15]
|
||||||||