Nestle Is Said to Tap Morgan Stanley for Vitamin Business Review

This content was published on September 24, 2025 - 15:19

2 minutes

(Bloomberg) — Nestle SA has appointed Morgan Stanley for a strategic review of its vitamin business, according to people familiar with the matter, as the world’s largest food company looks to revive growth.

The investment bank is tasked with exploring options for the vitamin unit that could lead to a sale of some of the brands, the people said. Those assets could be valued at €3 billion ($3.5 billion) to €4 billion in a deal, one of the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.

Deliberations are ongoing and Nestle could still decide to keep the brands for longer, the people said. Representatives for Nestle and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

Nestle, the maker of Nespresso and KitKat bars, has kicked off strategic reviews in recent months of its lagging operations including the vitamins division and its waters business under former Chief Executive Officer Laurent Freixe. Freixe was fired earlier this month for failing to disclose an affair with a direct subordinate. Nestle Chairman Paul Bulcke also said he will step down early after investors questioned his handling of the ouster of Freixe.

Philipp Navratil, who previously headed Nespresso, is now the CEO of Nestle, while Pablo Isla will take over as chairman on Oct. 1.

Investors have been frustrated with Nestle’s strategic direction after shares have dropped about 45% from its peak in 2022 with rising debt levels. Navratil is now forging ahead with some of the strategic projects of his predecessor.

In July, the Swiss group said it’s considering the future of some underperforming brands in its vitamins, minerals and supplements business, including Nature’s Bounty, Osteo Bi-Flex, Puritan’s Pride, and US private label. It has said that the brands under review have an annual revenue of around 1 billion Swiss franc ($1.3 billion).

Going forward, Nestle is set to focus on its premium brands such as Garden of Life, Solgar and Pure Encapsulations, it said in its latest earnings call.

“The lower-end brands are in a competitive segment with few barriers to entry so can become commoditized, while private label is typically low margin and not a great place to be if you are a branded player,” according to Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Jon Cox.