Nestle to sell baby formula business in Mexico

Mexico City: Swiss food giant Nestle will sell the infant nutrition business it acquired as part of the purchase of US-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s global infant nutrition unit, the Federal Competition Commission, or CFC, said on Monday.

Mexican regulators blocked Nestle’s purchase of the business last November because it would give the Swiss company too large a share of the market for baby formula.

Nestle responded by proposing a sale of the business, including the plant where the formula is produced, to a third party within a short period of time.

The buyer, who cannot have any relationship with Nestle or Pfizer, will have an exclusive licence to produce the Pfizer brands, the CFC said in a statement.

The eventual buyer must be approved by regulators “to avoid threats to free competition and market entry” in Mexico, the CFC said.