Nestle to sell smaller baby brands as it reorganises portfolio

Nestle said it plans to sell babyfood brands Alete and Milasan to German investment group BWK GmbH and a private investor as it pushes ahead with its portfolio clean-up.

Nestle is reviewing its businesses as it seeks to unload underperforming brands to free up resources for its main brands and invest in new business areas, such as medical nutrition and skin health.

“Nestle is focusing its baby food business in Germany and Austria on the Beba brand,” the world’s biggest food group said in a statement, without disclosing financial details of the deal.

Vontobel analyst Jean-Philippe Bertschy said the move was fully in line with Nestle’s strategy to focus on high-margin, businesses.

Kepler Cheuvreux’ Jon Cox said baby food was a strategic focus for Nestle. “I presume this is a very, very small deal and the brands maybe didn’t fit,” he said.