SAN DIEGO COUNTY : Whitman to Buy Van de Kamp’s Seafoods Division for $140 Million

Minneapolis-based Pillsbury Co. has agreed to sell its San Diego-based Van de Kamp’s frozen seafoods division to Whitman Corp. for about $140 million in cash, the company said Friday. Pillsbury hopes to complete the transaction by mid-September, according to a spokesman.

Pillsbury, which was acquired by London-based Grand Metropolitan PLC early this year, in May announced its intention to sell both Van de Kamp’s and Bumble Bee Seafoods, another San Diego-based seafood operation.

Whitman officials were uncertain Friday if the proposed sale would affect 40 employees and managers in San Diego. Van de Kamp’s also has 300 employees at a processing plant in Erie, Pa.

“It’s much too premature to speculate what might happen” in San Diego, according to Wendell Larsen, senior vice president of corporate affairs at Chicago-based Whitman. “But, generally speaking, we’re not planning to strip the company. We’re planning to expand the business and make it more successful.”

Whitman, which owns several consumer goods and services companies, reported $4 billion in sales during 1988.

Van de Kamp’s, which markets frozen seafood products in the United States, recently reported annual sales of more than $100 million. Its products are sold under the Van de Kamp’s and Today’s Catch brand names.

“Van de Kamp’s is a superior company that has strong potential,” said Ian A. Martin, chairman and chief executive officer of Pillsbury, which reported $6.2 billion in 1988 revenue. “The Van de Kamp’s line, however, does not fit Pillsbury’s core businesses and long-range strategy,” Martin said.