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Campbell Soup sells Garden Fresh, soup plant for $60 million, after paying $312 million for them

Campbell bought Michigan-based Garden Fresh Gourmet in 2015 for $232 million. And it opened the refrigerated soup plant in Washington in 2007 for $80 million.

Signage outside of a Campbell Soup Co. factory.
Signage outside of a Campbell Soup Co. factory.Read moreCole Burston / Bloomberg

In a sign of just how badly Campbell Soup Co.’s foray into fresh foods went, the 150-year-old company said Wednesday it’s getting $60 million for a company it bought for $232 million and a plant it opened at a cost of $80 million.

Campbell bought Michigan-based Garden Fresh Gourmet — producer of salsa, other dips, and chips — in 2015. And it opened the refrigerated soup plant in Washington in 2007.

The sales are part of Campbell’s plan announced in August to sell its Campbell Fresh operations and its international businesses to narrow the company’s focus and reduce debt.

Of the Campbell Fresh businesses, all that remains to be sold is Bolthouse Farms — a producer of fresh carrots, beverages, and salad dressings — bought for $1.55 billion in 2012.

Since 2016, Campbell has written off more than $1.4 billion from the value of businesses it had acquired for $2.4 billion from 2012 through 2015 under former chief executive Denise Morrison, who retired abruptly in May, setting off a review the the company’s operations and a fight with activist investor Dan Loeb for control of the company.

The company announced the sales last month but did not give prices.

Campbell appears to be having more luck with the sale of its international businesses, including Arnott’s biscuits in Australia. Campbell has owned that business since the early 1990s. The Australian Financial Review reported last week that Campbell had set a March 20 bid deadline and that the businesses were expected to be worth around $3 billion.