Unilever giant eyes sale of some of its tea brands for €4.5bn   

Shares of Unilever, which sells Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, have fallen 12% this year. 

Foods and groceries giant Unilever, the owner of Lipton and PG Tips, is nearing a sale of some tea assets to buyout firm CVC Capital Partners in one of the year’s biggest carveouts by a European company, people with knowledge of the matter said.

CVC has reached an agreement with Unilever after beating out rival private equity bidders including Advent International, according to the sources. The transaction is set to value the business at about €4.5bn.