Nestlé to sell ice cream business to Froneri

Nestlé has announced that it has reached an agreement to sell its US ice cream business to Froneri, an ice cream-focused joint venture Nestlé created in 2016 with PAI Partners, for a transaction value of US $4 billion. Brands include Häagen-Dazs, Drumstick and Outshine.

In 2016, Nestlé and PAI Partners merged Nestlé’s European ice cream business in 20 countries and PAI-owned R&R to create Froneri, one of the world’s largest ice cream companies. 

Froneri, which had operations in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia-Pacific, will now have a presence in the US – allegedly the largest ice cream market in the world. The recent acquisitions of TipTop in New Zealand and Nestlé’s ice cream business in Israel are also said to have increased Froneri’s global footprint.

Commenting on the transaction, Mark Schneider, Nestlé CEO, said: “The creation of Froneri has been a phenomenal success. We are now making this business our global strategic partner in ice cream and are convinced that Froneri’s successful business model can be extended to the US market. With this transaction, we are taking a decisive step towards our goal of achieving global leadership in ice cream.”

“This is another milestone acquisition for Froneri as we drive towards becoming the world’s best ice cream company. We are delighted to be bringing such well-loved US brands into the Froneri family. The acquisition is testament to the strength and longevity of our relationship with Nestlé. This partnership and the continued support of PAI Partners will be essential to ensuring we continue to delight consumers with innovative, high quality products in all markets,” added Ibrahim Najafi, Froneri CEO.

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