Nestlé’s £7.4bn swoop on Pfizer

Swiss food giant Nestlé is to buy US drugmaker Pfizer’s baby food business for $11.9 billion (£7.4bn), beating French rival Danone, as it battles for dominance of fast-growing emerging markets.

Pfizer Nutrition is a high-growth business built on its top SMA Gold brand and Nestlé chief executive Paul Bulcke said the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, was “an excellent strategic fit”.

Nestlé, the world’s biggest food company, had to dig deeper than expected to win the fight for Pfizer Nutrition, which makes 85 per cent of its sales in emerging markets. The deal price was well above the $10bn which had been expected.

Pfizer put its infant nutrition and animal health businesses up for sale last July as it looks to focus on its core pharmaceuticals business.