Advent International and Singapore’s Government Investment Corporation are discussing tabling a joint bid for PG Tips and Lipton Ice Tea next week, Sky News learns.
One of the world’s biggest buyout firms has teamed up with an Asian sovereign wealth fund to table a £4bn offer for PG Tips and other leading tea brands owned by Unilever.
Sky News has learnt that Advent International and Singapore’s Government Investment Corporation (GIC) are in discussions about a joint offer for the division ahead of a bid deadline next week.
If confirmed, the Advent-GIC consortium would be pitted against rival suitors including a combined offer from Cinven and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, as well as interest from Carlyle, Clayton Dubilier & Rice and KKR, three other large private equity firms.
Alan Jope, Unilever’s chief executive, is seeking to sell or spin off its tea unit, which also includes famous brands such as Lipton Ice Tea, because of sluggish sales growth in the category globally…
