Grupo Bimbo S.A.B. de C.V., parent company of Bimbo Bakeries USA (BBU), will acquire Sara Lee Corp.’s North American fresh bakery business, having received approval from the U.S. Department of Justice. The transaction is expected to close on Nov. 5, 2011.

"This is an exciting day for the customers, consumers and associates of both businesses," Gary Prince, president of BBU, said in a press release. "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."

As a condition of approval for the deal, the DOJ is requiring BBU to divest the Sara Lee and EarthGrains brands in California, 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.

Over the next five years, BBU will invest more than $1 billion to create manufacturing and delivery systems, renew existing facilities and improve technology and infrastructure.
Bimbo’s Entenmanns and Bimbo brands were among the top 10 muffin brands in dollar and unit sales covered in last month’s "Trends and Statistics" article in Baking Management. Read it here.