Nestlé sells Askeaton plant to US pharma buyer

Nestlé said it had put in place a support programme for workers affected by the closure, and worked to identify a new owner for the site, and the 'agreement with Pfanstiehl represents the successful outcome of this process'

There have been ongoing fears over the future of the site, but the acquisition by Pfanstiehl for an undisclosed sum has given a strong boost. Picture: Press 22

Nestlé is to sell its former Wyeth Nutritionals manufacturing site in Askeaton, Co Limerick, to US pharmaceutical firm Pfanstiehl.

The food giant announced the closure of the baby formula production plant in 2023, impacting 542 jobs, blaming the reduced birth rates in China. In March of this year, the final staff at Wyeth clocked out for the last time, bringing to an end 50 years of infant formula production at the site. 

There have been ongoing fears over the future of the site, but the acquisition by Pfanstiehl for an undisclosed sum has given a strong boost.

Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Illinois, the firm specialises in high-purity injectable excipients and bioprocessing components. It is a critical supply partner for the world’s biopharmaceutical leaders in protein/antibody drugs, vaccines, and cell and gene therapy.

Nestlé said it had put in place a support programme for workers affected by the closure, and worked to identify a new owner for the site that could sustain its long-standing manufacturing heritage. 

"The agreement with Pfanstiehl represents the successful outcome of this process, enabling continued industrial use of the facility," Nestlé said.

The company first acquired the Akeaton plant as part of its $11.85bn purchase of Pfizer Nutrition in 2012. Announcing its closure in 2023, Nestlé said births in China, the plant's almost exclusive market, had collapsed from about 18 million a year in 2016 to fewer than nine million by 2023.

The closure also removed a buyer for roughly 50 million gallons of milk a year from farms across the Mid-West, and close to €490,000 a year in commercial rates from Limerick's council. Nestlé said its closure also cost the Swiss giant €472.4m in exceptional charges.