London, NOv. 17 - Irish foods company Kerry Group is negotiating to sell a French fruit ingredients business it owns to Swedish private equity firm Industri Kapital, the Financial Times reported Saturday, without citing sources.
Kerry declined to confirm to the newspaper that discussions were underway.
The unit, one of whose main activities is manufacturing glace cherries, is believed to generate sales of between EUR100 million and EUR200 million, the FT reported.
According to the FT, executives from Kerry met with Industri Kapital representatives in Lyon two weeks ago. The Swedes are being advised by consultants KPMG, who have produced a second-stage due diligence report, codenamed "Apple," the FT reported.