By Michael Oneal | Sara
Lee Corp. announced Tuesday that it will sell its remaining
insecticides business to S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. in a deal valued at
around $188 million. The sale is the latest step in Sara Lee’s ongoing
plan to unload its international beauty and home care division.

In late May the Downers Grove-based consumer products giant said it would sell a 51 percent stake in its Godrej Sara Lee joint venture, which also produces insecticides, to Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. for  $230 million.

“The binding offer for our remaining insecticides business moves Sara Lee one step closer to focusing exclusively on our core food and beverage businesses, where we have strong competitive positions,” Marcel Smits, Sara Lee’s interim chief executive officer said in a statement.

Smits is standing in for CEO Brenda Barnes, who Monday announced that she is on an indefinite medical leave as she recovers from a stroke.

Sara Lee has already announced a $1.5 billion offer from Unilever for its Body Care business and another $392 million offer from P&G for its Air Care business. To date, the company said, the total announced Household & Body Care transactions are expected to generate pretax sales proceeds of approximately $2.4 billion, and represent approximately 81 percent of the fiscal 2009 adjusted operating segment income of the International Household and Body Care business. In February, Sara Lee hedged 1.6 billion euros at $1.35. The figures here are given at today’s exchange rate of $1.23.

Sara Lee previously announced a revised capital plan that focuses on share repurchase, dividend pay-out and the funded status of the company’s pension plans. The company plans to buy back $2.5 to $3 billion of shares over a three-year period, with approximately $1 to $1.3 billion of the shares anticipated to be repurchased in calendar year 2010.

On March 2, the company announced that it had executed an accelerated share repurchase program under which it repurchased $500 million, or approximately 36 million shares, of common stock.

Sara Lee expects to maintain and gradually increase its current 44 cents per share annual dividend and also anticipates making an additional $200 million cash contribution to its pension plans. The company continues to evaluate the best opportunities for value creation and investment of cash, including potential acquisitions or other investments in the company’s growt