French meat processor Groupe Bigard SA has offered to buy Nestlé SA's Herta processed meat business that the latter decided to put up for sale in February, Just Food reported Sept. 24, citing French newspaper Les Echos.
According to the report, the Swiss consumer goods giant believes the offer is too low. Bigard reportedly has one more month to reevaluate its proposal.
The Herta business, which Nestlé acquired in 1986, was previously reported to have attracted interest from WH Group Ltd.-owned Smithfield Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc.
Bloomberg News reported in April that the business could sell for $800 million to $1 billion and that Nestlé was planning to send marketing material to potential buyers like Tyson Foods Inc., COFCO Meat Holdings Ltd. and Sigma Alimentos, S.A. de C.V.
A Nestlé spokesperson reportedly told Just Food that the company has "no comment to make," while Bigard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In May, Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider told analysts in a special call that Herta, as a business segment, "is not one that is either financially imperative to us or strategically getting us where we want to be," at a time when customers transition to plant-based alternatives.
