NESTLE has agreed to sell its US ice cream business to Froneri, moving US control of brands including Haagen-Dazs to the joint venture the Swiss group set up in 2016 with PAI Partners in a deal valued at $4bn (£3bn).

The deal, announced yesterday, adds the company's US business — worth $1.8bn in sales — to Froneri's existing control of Nestle ice cream brands in a raft of European markets.

Nestle said it would continue to manage its remaining ice cream businesses in Canada, Latin America and Asia as part of its current market structure.

Froneri, created by the 2016 deal with PAI-owned UK business R&R Ice Cream, had a turnover of around SFr2.9bn (£2.2bn) in 2018.

"(We) are convinced that Froneri's successful business model can be extended to the U.S. market," Nestle's chief executive officer Mark Schneider said.

Froneri recently acquired Tiptop in New Zealand and Nestle's Israeli ice cream business, as it seeks to expand its global footprint.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020 following regulatory approvals.

Reuters

(c) 2019 City A.M., source Newspaper