March 7, 2007

Swiss Nestle plans to sell its German meat distributor
 

Swiss food giant Nestle considers selling its German meat distributor subsidiary Herta, reports the German daily Financial Times Deutschland. 

The German company will be put up for sale as soon as it demonstrates a sufficient improvement in its profitability.

Patrice Bula, head of Nestle's German activities, confirmed the report.

Nestle has already considered selling the German subsidiary earlier, but postponed the move due to the unit's low selling price, the report went on, citing business sources.

In 2006, a number of companies showed interest in acquiring Herta's activities.

Business sources expect Nestle to announce its plans to sell its German subsidiary in the autumn of 2007.

According to experts in the meat distribution sector, Herta's annual sales amount to around 1.0 billion Swiss francs (US$818.2 million/624.2 million euro).

Analysts have estimated the company's market value at between 600 million francs (US$490.9 million/374.5 million euro) and 1.0 billion francs (US$818.2 million /624.2 million euro).

Among the possible bidders for Herta are sector companies which have not been offering any major food brands so far.