Analyst Mitch Pinheiro, who follows the company for Janney Montgomery Scott, said the company would need to get around $900 million for Godiva to avoid diluting earnings.
Pinheiro said Campbell has resisted selling Godiva in the past partly because there was no place to reinvest the money that would equal profits generated by the chocolate company.
He said that has changed. The company could put money toward its planned entry into the soup business in mainland China and Russia and into expanding manufacturing capacity for its increasingly popular V8 juices -- and do it without taking on additional debt.
"I think the fact that the company's putting Godiva up for sale signals that Campbell Soup has strong growth opportunities in its core portfolio," Pinheiro said.
BusinessWeek has an article that looks at the high-end chocolate industry. The article says costs and profits are up for the chocolate industry but that Godiva is also facing new competitors. The article also says Godiva is a strong luxury chocolate brand with $500 million in annual sales. Godiva is expected to sell for around $1 billion. More coverage at Money Morning, FoodProcessing.com and Confectionery News.
Reuters is 
