Unilever Plc, the owner of Lipton and PG Tips, agreed to sell some tea assets to buyout firm CVC Capital Partners is one of the year’s biggest carveouts by a European company. The transaction values the business at 4.5 billion euros ($5.1 billion) on a cash-free, debt-free basis, Unilever said in a statement Thursday, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg News. CVC has reached an agreement with Unilever after beating out rival private equity bidders, including Advent International.

A sale of the tea business, called ekaterra, marks a much-needed win for Unilever Chief Executive Officer Alan Jope, seeking to rejig the company’s portfolio to keep up with changing consumer tastes. The firm abandoned a planned $1 billion sale of a beauty product portfolio earlier this year after failing to attract sufficient demand from potential buyers, people familiar with the matter said.

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“The evolution of our portfolio into higher-growth spaces is an important part of our growth strategy,” Jope said. “Our decision to sell ekaterra demonstrates further progress in delivering against our plans.”