“Ferrero close to Nestlé's American chocolate division"

Italian Ferrero and Swiss Nestlé are close to a deal for the former to acquire the latter’s American chocolate division. Nutella and Tictac’s manufacturer would be willing to pay 2.8 billion dollars to get brands like Butterfinger and Baby Ruth.

Decreased demand for sugar-filled products

Nestlé, known for KitKat and several other brands, revealed in June 2017 that it was “looking at options” for its American chocolate division. CEO Mark Schneider said in December that he expected to sell the division in 2018’s first quarter. Nestlé wants to turn its gaze to coffee (Nescafé, Nespresso) and animal food, especially since the global demand for sugar-filled food is dropping.

According to financial press agency Bloomberg, Ferrero would acquire the division. The Italian company will apparently pay 2.34 billion euro for the American chocolate division that generated a 900 million Swiss francs (830 million euro) in 2016.

Ferrero already surprised everyone late last year, when it announced that it would acquire American Ferrara Candy, a company with brands like Brach’s, Trolli and Lemonhead. This acquisition helped the Italians reach a 4.8 % market share.