(Reuters) – Nestlé on Wednesday announced the sale of its bottled water business in North America to two private equity funds for $ 4.3 billion (€ 3.6 billion), with the Swiss agri-food group keen focus on its high-end brands like Perrier.
This sale to One Rock Capital Partners and Metropoulos & Co concerns the regional spring water brands, the purified water business and the beverage delivery service in the United States and Canada.
However, it does not relate to Perrier, San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, international brands that contributed to the recovery of the growth of this activity in the third quarter, said Nestlé.
“We are continuing to transform our water businesses globally with a view to optimizing their positioning for long-term profitable growth,” CEO Mark Schneider said in a statement. “This sale will allow us to focus more on our premium international brands, local natural mineral waters and high quality healthy hydration products.”
The Vevey group announced last June that it was considering selling this Nestlé Waters activity in North America. Reuters reported this month that it is in discussions with One Rock Capital.
This division employs around 7,000 people in the United States and more than 230 in Canada, according to One Rock.
“As a private company, the business should have more resources and flexibility to achieve continued growth and to strengthen its existing operations,” said Kimberly Reed, partner at One Rock.
(Shubham Kalia in Bangalore; French version Bertrand Boucey, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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