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Dutch retail holding Blokker has sold its toy division Intertoys to British investor Alteri. The store chain sale is part of Blokker Holding’s new strategy to focus only on its namesake chain.

Unilever’s margarine division sale is picking up pace, because interested parties have to table a bid before 19 October. Apparently, mostly investment funds have expressed an interest.

Six to seven billion

Unilever hopes the sale will generate between six and seven billion euro. It put the division up for sale in the spring, and investment funds like Blackstone, CVC and GIC (from Singapore) have been the main interested parties. Its competitors, like Dairy Krest and Kraft Heinz, are not planning on tabling a bid apparently, according to FD.

Amazon acquired the Body Labs startup, which specializes in 3D body models, for about 50 to 70 million dollars (42 – 60 million euro).

Dutch lingerie store chain Hunkemöller is for sale again, merely a year after American investment firm Carlyle acquired it. The company hopes to get 600 million euro for the chain, a lot more than the price it paid a year ago.

According to a French business paper, Amazon is eyeing to acquire Carrefour in an attempt to increase its foothold in Europe. Carrefour's share suddenly became one of the biggest risers in the Paris stock exchange, even though no proof of the intents has yet been released.

Belgian food group Ter Beke has acquired a 90 % stake in British competitor KK Fine Foods for an undisclosed fee. The current shareholders hold onto the other 10 %.

Nestlé USA has acquired American Sweet Earth for an undisclosed fee. The company mainly manufactures meat replacements, a rapidly-growing market, but also several frozen meals.

British-Dutch Unilever bought British tea company Pukka Herbs, expanding its own tea portfolio even further. It already owns brands like Lipton and PG Tips.

Shareholders for Europe’s largest soda and fruit juice manufacturer, Refresco, approved American competitor Cott’s acquisition in droves. The deal is the Rotterdam-based company’s largest acquisition in its seventeen-year history.

Ardo, the vegetable processing company from Ardooie (Belgium), has just acquired Canadian VLM Foods and its subsidiary Compañia Frutera La Paz. These are its first non-European acquisitions and they will help grow its turnover beyond the one billion euro mark.

French department store chain Galeries Lafayette announced it will acquire a 51 % stake in La Redoute and it will obtain the remaining 49 % at a later stage.

Increasing rumours say that cosmetics company Estée Lauder may be up for sale and that there are a number of interested parties, including L’Oréal and Unilever.

American Federal Trade Commission has approved Amazon’s acquisition of supermarket chain Whole Foods, which means the entire deal should be finalized before the end of the year.

There are rumours that Kraft Heinz will target Danone after it failed to acquire Unilever. However, analysts feel the water between both companies may still be too deep.

Dutch dairy company FrieslandCampina has sold its fruit juice division, which also contained the Appelsientje brand, to investment firm Standard Investment. The acquisition fee was not disclosed.

Austrian investment firm JAB Holding wants to sell Swiss shoe brand Bally, hoping to get at least 600 million euro. The same company sold shoe brand Jimmy Choo not too long ago, as it wants to focus on its food brands henceforth.

Belgian outdoor chain AS Adventure has acquired its German competitor McTrek. The acquisition opens up the largest European outdoor market for the Belgians, thanks to McTrek’s 39 stores and web shop.

Dutch juice and soda bottler Refresco acquired American competitor Cott’s bottling division for 1.25 billion dollars (1.1 billion euro), becoming the world’s largest independent bottling company in the world.