US: ConAgra Foods hopes to fry up wealth for shareholders in spinoff of Lamb Weston

For ConAgra shareholders, it is still an unknown how much real gold is in the golden-brown french fries produced by the company’s Lamb Weston division. The Chicago-based firm, based in Omaha since 1922 until just a few weeks ago, said Wednesday that it plans by this fall to spin off the Lamb Weston french fry division. The new, stand-alone company would be owned by existing ConAgra shareholders. The spinoff, which ConAgra executives first mentioned in November, is touted as unlocking wealth for the shareholders of both companies by allowing ConAgra to concentrate on grocery store items in its consumer division. More