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Nestlé SA, the Swiss food giant, is expected to announce
Monday that it is paying about $600 million for Jenny Craig,
the U.S. weight
loss company, according to a media report.
nestle is moving to expand its presence in
the $30 billion weight loss management industry, the New York
Times reported in its online edition. The Swiss company already
owns the Lean Cuisine food brand and makes PowerBars. Jenny
Craig manufactures prepackaged meals sold through its 600
weight-loss
centers in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the
Times said.
The acquisition is also part of Nestlé's effort to
expand in what is described as the "functional food"
category through its Nestlé Nutrition unit, which makes
PowerBars, baby foods and a series of nutritionally enriched
products for the elderly, The Times said.
The deal also marks the first time a major food manufacturer
has made such a big bet on a business that is not strictly
about selling food, the Times said.
According to the Times, Nestlé won a long-running
auction for Jenny Craig, which was put up for sale in January
by its owners, ACI Capital and MidOcean Partners, a spinoff
of Deutsche Bank's private equity arm.
The private equity firms had acquired a majority interest
in Jenny Craig from the company's founders, Sid and Jenny
Craig, in 2002 for $115 million and reaped more than five
times their investment in less than five years, the Rimes
said.
Source: http://www.marketwatch.com
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