May 11, 2025 - Business

Nestlé seeks to sell Perrier and other water brands

Dan Primack

Perrier cartons — Photo: Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

Nestlé has hired investment bank Rothschild to find a buyer for its bottled water business, which could fetch more than €5 billion and includes the Perrier and S.Pellegrino brands, according to Reuters.

Why it matters: The Swiss food giant announced plans to separate the water business last fall, but now is at the center of a brewing political scandal in France over filtering techniques some of its its Perrier facilities.

Last week, Nestlé was ordered to remove to remove microfilters from its Vergèze and Vosges locations.

The intrigue: Suitors may include One Rock Partners, which in 2021 helped carve Poland Springs and other North American water brands out of Nestlé for $4.3 billion.

That portfolio now is part Primo Brands (NYSE: PRMB), with Bloomberg reporting that One Rock is seeking to sell down its 44% stake to 31% via a $1.5 billion share sale. Got to wonder if the divestiture is, in part, an effort to alleviate antitrust concerns were One Rock to enter the new auction.

Go deeper, via Reuters: "Bottled water is a difficult category amid water scarcity concerns and weak industry sales since the COVID-19 pandemic."

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Nestlé seeks to sell Perrier and other water brands

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