Kraft Heinz is exploring a sale of its Oscar Mayer meats business that could fetch anything between $3 billion to $5 billion (€2.8 billion to €4.6 billion), the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Oscar Mayer business, known for hot dogs, bacon, ham, and bologna products, has had to deal with declining consumer demand in the face of a shift to healthier options.
The company also wrote down the value of its Oscar Mayer and Kraft brands in 2019.
Kraft Heinz has tapped Bank of America and Centerview Partners to gauge interest in the business, the report said.
While it is not clear as to who might be interested in purchasing the business, potential buyers could include private-equity firms or other food-industry players, WSJ added.
The report also notes the possibility that no transaction may materialise.
Kraft Heinz declined to comment on the report.
Before its merger with H.J. Heinz in 2015, Kraft Foods had planned to spin Oscar Mayer into a separate segment in 2007.
First-Quarter Performance
Recently, the Heinz tomato ketchup maker missed Wall Street expectations for first-quarter sales as inflation-weary consumers pushed back on higher prices of its branded lunch combos, meat cold cuts and mac and cheese.
Overall volumes for the quarter fell 3.2 percentage points, while prices rose 2.7 percentage points across Kraft-Heinz's portfolio.
Volume decline in its biggest North America segment eased, down 3.7 percentage points from last year's drop of 6.5 percentage points.
The company posted net sales of $6.41 billion (€6.01 billion) in the three months ended 30 March, compared with analysts' average estimates of $6.43 billion (€6.03 billion), according to LSEG data.
