Consumer goods conglomerate Unilever has agreed to sell its margarine and spreads business to KKR, a US-based investment firm, for €6.8bn. In what is one of the biggest deals of the year in the global food industry, Unilever said the sale would be completed by mid-2018.

Unilever’s spreads business, which includes a number of iconic margarine brands such as Flora, Becel, Stork and I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter, had sales of more than €3bn last year. The division reported earnings (EBITDA) of €680m, meaning profit margins are robust at 22.4%.

Unilever placed the division for sale after chief executive Paul Polman promised to release more equity back to shareholders following the failed Kraft Heinz takeover bid of $143bn in February. The contest to buy Unilever’s spreads business attracted fierce competition from a number of interested private equity firms.

Despite the competition, a selling price of €6.8bn, or 10 times earnings, is not excessive when compared to other major deals in the food sector in recent years. In July this year, Reckitt Benckiser sold its food business to McCormick & Company for $4.2bn, or a 20 times earnings multiple.

In 2016, Danone paid a multiple of 25 times earnings ($12.5bn) to acquire WhiteWave Foods, while Glanbia paid 17 times earnings ($217m) to acquire US nutrition company ThinkThin in 2015.

Unilever said it will return the net cash proceeds from the deal to its shareholders unless the opportunity to acquire a “value-creating” business arises.