Nestlé, the Swiss food titan behind some of the world’s most iconic consumer brands, has enlisted Rothschild & Co. to guide the sale of its global water division later this year, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The sale could fetch over €5 billion ($5.6 billion), signaling a seismic shift in the company’s strategy under new CEO Laurent Freixe.
As part of Freixe’s mission to trim Nestlé’s sprawling portfolio of 2,000 products down to a sharpened core of about 30 flagship brands—think Kit-Kat, Nescafé, NAN formula, and Maggi noodles—the water division has been deemed a non-core asset.
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The bottled water business, which includes high-profile names like Perrier and S.Pellegrino, has faced an uphill climb in recent years, burdened by global concerns about water scarcity, regulatory scrutiny, and flagging demand post-COVID. Nestlé already offloaded its North American water brands in 2021 for $4.3 billion.
Despite those headwinds, Nestlé’s water business—newly carved out into a standalone unit as of January 1—has been drawing strong early interest from private equity powerhouses. Platinum Equity, Blackstone, and One Rock Capital Partners are among those who’ve held preliminary talks, while PAI Partners and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) have also emerged as potential contenders, sources said.
