PAI-backed Froneri buys Nestlé US ice cream business for $4bn

Froneri, which had a turnover of around CHF 2.9bn in 2018, wholly acquired the business. The combined group will have 14,000 employees following this acquisition.

Nestlé will continue to manage its remaining ice cream operations in Canada, Latin America and Asia as part of its current market structure.

PAI merged R&R Ice Cream with several Nestlé ice cream and frozen foods businesses in 2016. Since then, the firm has made a number of acquisitions including New Zealand-based Tip Top in a $380m transaction from dairy co-operative Fonterra, and Israel-based Noga from Osem Group.

Company
Based in Arlington, Virginia, the business owns ice cream brands such as Häagen-Dazs, Drumstick and Outshine. The company's management team, marketing, manufacturing, sales and distribution capabilities will also be acquired. In 2018, turnover for the business was $1.8bn. Nestlé was founded in 1866.

People
PAI Partners – Frédéric Stévenin (partner).
Nestlé – Mark Schneider (CEO).
Froneri – Ibrahim Najaf (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Weil Gotshal & Manges (legal); Rothschild (corporate finance); PwC (financial due diligence).
Vendor – Credit Suisse (corporate finance).

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• Topics
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