February 28, 2005 07:40 AM US Central Timezone
General Mills Receives $750 Million Cash Proceeds from SVE TransactionMINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 28, 2005--General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) said today that its 40.5 percent ownership interest in the Snack Ventures Europe (SVE) joint venture has been redeemed for $750 million. The redemption ends the European snack joint venture between General Mills and PepsiCo.
General Mills reaffirmed that it will use net cash proceeds from this transaction, estimated at $710 million, to reduce debt. The company is also targeting $675 million of operating cash for debt reduction in 2005.
General Mills will record a book gain from the redemption of its interest in SVE in its fiscal 2005 fourth quarter results.
