P.M. BRIEFING : Grand Met to Sell Part of Pillsbury

Grand Metropolitan Plc said today it agreed to sell its Pillsbury subsidiary’s S & A Restaurant Corp. to an investor group for $431 million.

S & A, with its Steak & Ale and Bennigan’s family restaurant chains, was part of U.S. foods giant Pillsbury Co., which Grand Met acquired in January. Grand Met has launched a program of cost cuts and asset sales as it attempts to make Pillsbury more profitable. Grand Met said in a statement the investor group was led by DSJ/Inverness & Co. and the senior management of S & A. Financing will be provided by Citicorp’s Citicorp Venture Capital Ltd. and others.