Apollo among suitors for €7bn spreads giant Flora

A pack of buyout firms will this week submit initial offers for Flora Food Group, the spreads giant behind brands including I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.

Sky News has learnt that Apollo Global Management and Capvest are among the private equity investors preparing to table first-round bids for the business, which was previously owned by Unilever.

City sources said that offers were due to be tabled as early as Tuesday.

KKR, the company's current majority shareholder, is understood to be holding out for offers worth at least €7bn (£5.9bn).

Insiders said that OneRock, another private equity firm, had also expressed interest in bidding for Flora.

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Flora is saddled with billions of euros of debt following KKR's acquisition of the company almost a decade ago.

Its financial performance has been disappointing, with sales across large parts of the spreads category beset by weak growth and rising input prices.

In August, it reported a slight decline in half-year earnings, underlining the challenges facing the business.

Apollo is one of the world's biggest private equity investors, and is a frequent suitor for businesses which are in need of substantial operational improvement.

Rival bidder Capvest is a prolific backer of companies in the food and beverages industry.

Flora Foods is run by David Haines, a former Vodafone executive, and is chaired by the City grandee Sir Roger Carr, who has been at the helm of FTSE-100 companies including BAE Systems, Cadbury-Schweppes and Centrica.

With a history dating back to 1871, the company's portfolio also includes Becel ProActiv, BlueBand, Country Crock and Violife.

Initially rebranded as Upfield after its sale to KKR, the company came close to being taken over by ADQ, an Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund, in 2024.

Those talks were abandoned after the two sides failed to agree a price.

KKR drew up plans to make its entire portfolio plant-based by 2025, but later ditched the proposal amid shifting consumption habits.

The spreads division was one of a number of major businesses offloaded by Unilever in recent years, which have also included Magnum Ice Cream and Lipton Teas and Infusions, the owner of PG Tips.

Unilever recently announced an even more substantial deal which involved combining its entire food division with McCormick of the US.

Sky News revealed that Colman's, the historic mustard brand, is the subject of a separate sale process.

The auction of Flora Foods is being run by bankers at Goldman Sachs and Citi.

Spokespeople for Apollo, Capvest, Flora Food Group and KKR all declined to comment.

OneRock did not respond to a request for comment.

(c) Sky News 2026: Apollo among suitors for €7bn spreads giant Flora