Dive Brief:
- Unilever, the maker of Ben & Jerry's and Lipton tea, announced Thursday that it has sold its Slim Fast brand to Kainos Capital.
- The company previously announced that it was trying to trim its portfolio of brands that included Slim Fast and the pasta sauce Ragu.
- Unilever will retain a minority stake in the business, according to reports. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Dive Insight:
Food Dive previously reported on Unilever's attempt to sell Slim Fast in January. At the time, it was rumored that the asking price for the weight-loss brand was around $1.7 billion, well below the $2.4 billion Unilever paid for the business in 2000.
If the $1.7 billion price tag held up for this sale, it will mimic Nestle's sale of its Jenny Craig brand last year, which went for roughly half of what it was sold for seven years earlier. This drop in value is a telling sign for the current weight loss industry, as more customers look to free online health advice to achieve an overall well-being.