Unilever tightens belt with Slim-Fast sale

Consumer goods giant Unilever has shed its Slim-Fast milkshake and snack bar brand in another belt-tightening move.

The Anglo-Dutch group said it had sold a majority stake in the diet brand to US private equity fund Kainos Capital, which specialises in food and drink investments. Neither parties disclosed deal terms.

The flavoured soya and dairy based shake was created by the Thomson Medical company and Slim-Fast became the favoured weight-loss product during the 1990s. Unilever acquired the business in 2000 when the meal replacement shake was being used by 45pc of the American health and weight management market for a reported £1.4bn.

However, the diet industry has changed dramatically since then as more restrictive diets, such as the Atkins and 5:2 program, have become more popular. As a result, sources watching the sale process said that Slim-Fast had struggled to whet buyers’ appetites.

It was said that Unilever was looking for a pricetag of around £1bn but the Slim-Fast sale is unlikely to have fetched that sum after a difficult process which led to the consumer titan keeping a minority stake in the business.

Unilever has embarked on its own slimming programme under the guidance of new chief executive Paul Polman who is aiming to achieve cost savings of €500m (£400m) by the end of this year.

Earlier this year the company sold pasta sauce brand, Ragu, to Japan’s Mizkan Group for £1.26bn, its meat snack Peperami to American food producer Jack Links, and last year offloaded Wish-Bone salad dressing to Pinnacle Foods for $580m and Skippy peanut butter to Hormel Foods for $700m.

Earlier this month The Telegraph reported Unilever had also hired advisers at PwC to explore sale options for male hair grooming product Brylcreem.