Nestle S A : buys Allergan business to expand in medical nutrition
January 27, 2020 at 02:11 am EST
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Swiss food giant Nestle on Monday bulked up its medical nutrition business by buying Allergan's Zenpep, a product for people whose pancreases do not provide enough enzymes to properly digest fats, proteins and sugars.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Zenpep had sales of $237 million in 2018.
Allergan's sale of Zenpep, for people with Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI), comes in conjunction with the ongoing regulatory approval process of AbbVie's $63 billion takeover of the Irish-domiciled drugmaker, AbbVie said in a separate statement.
Nestle Chief Executive Mark Schneider, who also gets Allergan product Viokace, another pancreatic enzyme preparation, in the deal, is bulking up on nutrition products that combine properties of medicine and food as the Swiss company expands in areas where growth may outpace its mainstream food business.
"This is a significant opportunity for our business in the United States to add a complementary product to our existing range of nutrition products that support food ingestion, digestion and absorption," said Greg Behar, head of Nestle Health Science in a statement.
"Nestle's acquisition of Zenpep is a strategic decision that will enhance our growing medical nutrition portfolio."
Nestle said its purchase would be finalised in tandem with the AbbVie-Allergan deal's completion, which regulators have made contingent on the divestment of some products.
(Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Riham Alkousaa and Mark Potter)
Nestlé S.A. is the world's leading agri-food group. Net sales break down by category of products as follows:
- powdered and liquid beverages (26.7%): soluble coffees (Nescafé and Starbucks brands), coffee in capsules (Nespresso), chocolate drinks (Nesquik, Milo, etc.), tea drinks (Nestea), etc.;
- pet food (20.3%): brands such as Purina, Friskies, Felix, etc.;
- pharmaceutical, nutrition and well-being products (16.4%): nutritional supplements (Resource, Boost, Nutren, Optifast, Peptamen brands, etc.), infant and maternal nutrition products (NAN, illuma, Cerelac, Nido, Gerber), ketogenic beverages (BrainXpert), (Nesquick, Fitness, Cheerios, Lion, etc.), etc.;
- ready meals and seasoning products (12.5%): frozen and chilled dishes (Lean Cuisine, Hot Pockets and Stouffer's brands), soups (Maggi), etc.;
- dairy products and ice cream (11.8%): powdered milk, sweetened condensed milk, yoghurt and cream desserts, ice cream (Nido, Nesvita, Carnation, La Laitière, Coffee Mate, Nestlé Ice Cream, Dreyers, Häagen-Dazs, Extrême brands, etc.);
- chocolates, sweets and biscuits (8.7%): Kit Kat, Smarties, Cailler, Terrafertil, etc. brands;
- bottled waters (3.6%): Nestlé Pure Life, Vittel, Perrier, S. Pellegrino, etc. brands.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Switzerland (1.2%), France (3.8%), the United Kingdom (3.8%), Germany (2.4%), Europe (12.8%), the United States and Canada (35%), China (5.9%), Asia and Oceania (21.4%) and Latin America (13.7%).
NESTLÉ S.A. 
