Swiss food giant Nestlé is selling its American ice cream brands, including Häagen-Dazs, to its own Froneri joint venture. The deal is worth 4 billion dollars (3.5 billion euros) and would generate one of the world’s largest ice cream producers.
Joint venture
Froneri is a joint venture between Nestlé and R&R Ice Cream, who in turn is owned by investment fund PAI, that the Swiss food giant established in 2016 to group its European ice cream brands. Nestlé and PAI both own half of the Froneri shares. Adding Nestlés American ice cream branch means Froneri will have an additional turnover of 1.8 billion dollars (1.6 billion euros). Froneri itself generated a turnover of 2.9 billion dollars (2.6 billion euros), Reuters notes.
The joint venture’s international market share would increase to 10% as a result of the acquisition, making it one of the biggest ice cream producers in the world. British-Dutch Unilever, which includes Ben & Jerry’s, continues to be the world market leader, with a share of approximately 18% of the ice cream market.
