Sealed Air To Sell New Diversey, Food Hygiene Business To Bain Capital For About $3.2 Billion

Food packaging company Sealed Air Corp. said Monday it has agreed to sell its Diversey Care division and the food hygiene and cleaning business of its food care division to private-equity firm Bain Capital in a deal worth about $3.2 billion. Sealed Air will use the proceeds to pay down debt, buy back shares and fund growth initiatives, including possible acquisitions for its food and product care divisions. The company's board has approved an additional $1.5 billion for its share buyback authorization, bringing the total to about $2.2 billion. The sale of New Diversey is expected to close in the second half. The business has about 8,600 workers globally and along with the food hygiene business generated sales of about $2.6 billion in 2016. Sealed Air shares were flat premarket, but are down 1.5% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.7%.