HORSHAM, Pa., Oct. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Bimbo Bakeries USA (BBU) announced today that its parent company Grupo Bimbo, S.A.B. de C.V. will complete its acquisition of Sara Lee Corporation's North American Fresh Bakery business, having received approval from the U.S. Department of Justice. The transaction is expected to close on November 5, 2011.

"This is an exciting day for the customers, consumers and associates of both businesses," said Gary Prince, president of Bimbo Bakeries USA. "We will soon be able to begin the important work of creating the new BBU — a U.S. bakery business serving the highest quality products to every market in America and providing the best value to our customers and consumers."

Combining Sara Lee's baking business with BBU brings together a highly complementary product portfolio and geographic coverage with bakeries in every region of the country. Over the next five years, BBU will invest over $1 billion to promote growth by creating efficient manufacturing and delivery systems in every region to serve its customers.

"We will build new bakeries where we need them, renew existing facilities and improve our technology and infrastructure," said Prince. "Our investments will create manufacturing jobs in the U.S."  

As a condition of approval for the deal, the U.S. Department of Justice is requiring BBU to divest the Sara Lee® and EarthGrains® brands in California and the Holsum® & Milano® brands in central Pennsylvania, the EarthGrains® & Mrs Bairds® brands in Kansas City, the EarthGrains® & Healthy Choice® brands in Omaha and the EarthGrains®  brand in Oklahoma City.

"I look forward to beginning our journey as the new BBU. These two great businesses will be better together, providing exceptional service to customers, value across our product portfolio for consumers and personal and professional development opportunities for our associates," said Prince.

About Bimbo Bakeries USA

Bimbo Bakeries USA (BBU) is a leader in the baking industry, known for its category leading brands, innovative products, freshness and quality. Our team of 15,000 U.S. associates operate 35 bakeries in United States serving  8,500 routes distributing our leading brands such as Arnold®, Bimbo®, Boboli®, Brownberry®, Entenmann's®, Francisco®, Freihofer's®, Marinela®, Mrs Bairds®, Oroweat®, Stroehmann®, Thomas'®, and Tia Rosa.®

About Grupo Bimbo

Grupo Bimbo is one of the largest baking companies in the world in terms of production and sales volume. As the market leader in the Americas, Grupo Bimbo has 102 plants and 1,000 distribution centers strategically located in 17 countries throughout the Americas and Asia. Its main product lines include sliced bread, buns, cookies, snack cakes, English muffins, bagels, pre-packaged foods, tortillas, salted snacks and confectionery products, among others. Grupo Bimbo produces over 7,000 products and has one of the most extensive direct distribution networks in the world, with more than 44,000 routes and more than 109,000 employees. Grupo Bimbo's shares have traded on the Mexican Stock Exchange since 1980 under the ticker symbol BIMBO.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains certain statements regarding the expected financial and operating performance of Grupo Bimbo, S.A.B. de C.V., which are based on current financial information, operating levels, and market conditions, as well as on estimations of the Board of Directors of the Company related to possible future events. The results of the Company may differ in regards with those expressed on these statements, due to different factors that are beyond the Company's control, such as: adjustments in price levels, variations in the costs of its raw materials, changes in laws and regulations, or economic or political conditions not foreseen in the countries where the Company operates. Therefore, the Company is not responsible for such differences in the information and suggests that readers review such statements prudently. Moreover, the Company will not undertake any obligation to publicly release any revisions to the statements due to variations of such factors after the date of this press release.

SOURCE Grupo Bimbo

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