Diageo finally sells General Mills block

When Diageo offloaded its US Pillsbury food division to General Mills for stock in 2001, it did not expect still to be the biggest shareholder in General Mills three years later. But as pressure mounted to dispose of the stake, poor performance at Pillsbury, SEC investigations into General Mills and the overhang of the Diageo block held back the share price. It took an exceptionally well-structured and well-executed deal to overcome these obstacles last month.

BY MID-AFTERNOON on October 4 General Mills’ stock price had started to go up. It was a heartening sign for the investment bankers at the four lead underwriters marketing a $2.3 billion concurrent convertible and General Mills common stock secondary offering. It brought a sense of justification to an execution strategy that had been three years in the planning and relief that it all seemed to be working on the day.

General Mills stock had been flat for most of the year, underperforming the food sector index.

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