SWITZERLAND – One Rock Capital Partners in partnership with Metropoulos & Co has agreed to by Nestlé regional spring water brands, purified water business and beverage delivery service in the U.S. and Canada for USD 4.3 billion.

The agreement follows Nestlé’s announcement last year that it would conduct a strategic review of parts of the North American waters division and sharpen the focus of its global water portfolio.

The sale includes a number of leading water brands in the U.S. and Canada, which had sales of around CHF3.4 billion (about US$3.8 billion) in 2019.

The brands include Poland Spring® Brand 100% Natural Spring Water, Deer Park® Brand 100% Natural Spring Water, Ozarka® Brand 100% Natural Spring Water, among others.

The sale also comprises the U.S. direct-to-consumer and office beverage delivery service ReadyRefresh® but does not include Nestlé’s international premium brands such Perrier®, S.Pellegrino® and Acqua Panna®.

Commenting on the transaction, Mark Schneider, Nestlé CEO, said: “This sale enables us to create a more focused business around our international premium brands, local natural mineral waters and high-quality healthy hydration products.”

Schneider further noted that the company will also boost innovation and business development efforts to capture emerging consumer trends, such as functional water.

Meanwhile in India, the company’s profit in quarter ended December 2020 rose 2 per cent to ₹ 483.3 crore (about US$66.3 million)  from ₹ 472.6 crore (about US$64.8 million) during the same quarter last year.

Nestle India’s revenue from sale of products rose 9 per cent to ₹ 3,417.52 crore (about US$469 million) compared with ₹ 3,130.74 crore (about US$429.7 million) in the year -ago period

The news was however not well received by the Indian stock market as the profit numbers declared by Nestle India were below expectations as analysts at brokerage firm Motilal Oswal expected the company to report net profit of ₹ 550 crore (about US$75 million)

As a resulst, shares of FMCG major fell as much as 5 per cent to hit an intraday low of ₹ 16,360 a day after it reported December quarter earnings.

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