General Mills To Sell Green Giant And Le Sueur For $765 Million

General Mills will sell Green Giant, its frozen vegetable brand, along with sister brand Le Seuer, a line of canned vegetables, the company has announced. The $765 million cash deal will pass the struggling brands to B&G Foods Inc., which owns Pirate's Booty, Mrs. Dash, Ortega, and a number of other brands.

Meanwhile, General Mills will use the money to repurchase shares and reduce its overall debt. "The sale reinforces General Mills' strategic priority to shape its portfolio for growth, focusing its resources on the brands, categories, and geographic markets that have the greatest future growth opportunities," the company announced in a statement, suggesting that it would continue to align itself with an increasingly health-conscious consumer base.

Incidentally, the frozen food sector has seen an overall decline in the last few years, prompting some companies, like Nestlé and ConAgra Foods, to re-evaluate its freezer-aisle offerings.

"We expect the acquisition to be immediately accretive to our earnings per share and free cash flow," B&G CEO announced in a statement. "In addition, the acquisition marks our entry into the frozen food category, which we believe will open many future growth opportunities."