Unilever sells Wish-Bone brand for $580M

PARSIPPANY, N.J. Pinnacle Foods is buying Wish-Bone salad dressings from Unilever for $580 million.

Combined annual sales, which include the liquid and dry-mix salad dressings under the Wish-Bone and Western brands, total about $190 million. Unilever PLC will continue to produce the brands for an undetermined period of time under a third-party manufacturing agreement.

Pinnacle said Monday it plans to invest $40 million to $50 million to consolidate production at one of its existing facilities and leverage its supply chain.

The buyout is expected to close late in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Foods Inc., based in Parsippany, N.J., went public in March. Its other products include Vlasic pickles and Birds Eye frozen foods.