Sara Lee acquires Tea Forté

UTRECHT, Netherlands — Sara Lee has acquired an ultra-premium tea business based in Massachusetts.

The company said it acquired Tea Forté, a company founded in 2003 by former Museum of Modern Art designer Peter Hewitt, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition, Sara Lee said, strategically fits the company's strategy to spin off its CoffeeTeaCo business. CoffeeTeaCo will retain the current management team of Tea Forté to run the business independently before integrating it into its international coffee and tea operations, Sara Lee noted.

"Acquiring Tea Forté fits perfectly into our strategy to spin off 'CoffeeTeaCo' as a pure-play coffee and tea company poised for strong growth," said Jan Bennink, executive chairman of the board at Sara Lee.