Reckitt Benckiser buys baby formula firm

Reckitt Benckiser has agreed to buy US baby formula maker Mead Johnson Nutrition for £13bn (€15.25bn), giving the British consumer goods company a new product line and expanding its presence in developing markets.

Reckitt Benckiser said it would finance the acquisition with debt underwritten by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, and HSBC.

Reckitt’s business has been hurt by a safety scandal in South Korea, slowing emerging markets and a “failed” Scholl product. It also reported weaker-than-expected sales in the fourth quarter due to declines in Europe and north America. The company said issues that hurt it in 2016 would persist in the first half of 2017. The Mead acquisition is Reckitt’s biggest ever.