Nestlé has finally been given the go-ahead to complete its $2.8 billion takeover of Dreyer – a year after the deal was first announced.
The US Federal trade commission yesterday cleared Nestlé’s merger of its US ice cream business with Dreyer, the US’s largest ice cream maker, after Nestlé agreed to sell Dreyer’s Dreamery and Whole Fruit Sorbet brands.
The Dreyer deal is the culmination of Nestlé’s strategy to become the leading ice cream producer in the US. Nestlé began an acquisition spree in June 2001 when it bought Schöller, the German ice cream maker. It has also gulped up Häagen-Dazs and Mövenpick.
“We have now realized our objective of becoming the leading player in the USA, the world’s largest ice cream market with the highest per capita consumption rate,” said Peter Brabeck, Nestlé’s CEO.
“The transaction concludes the acquisition phase in the ice cream sector and we will now devote our full attention to bringing this business in line with our growth and margin expectations.”
