The Co-Operative Group of the UK is planning to sell its entire farming business including 15 farms and three packing sites encompassing approximately 50,000 acres in the face of £2 billion in debt. The Group has operated the farming business since 1896 producing cereals, wheat for bread flour, fruit, vegetables, including potatoes, apples, and peas. The Group has begun the process of divesting the farming business and is believed to have received numerous bids from private equity firms and from Legal & General however none of the bid met the £400 million value of the business. The Group is expected to enter into sales and lease-back agreements on some of its larger properties. The Co-Op Bank has admitted to accruing over £700 million in debt in the first half of 2013 alone and total debt is expected to reach £2 billion. The Co-Op has pledged a capital injection of £462 million, less than half the £1 billion that was pledged in a previous proposal to rescue the bank.
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