Nestlé is tipped as a potential buyer of Novartis' nutritional
supplements unit, rumoured to be up for sale, as the Swiss food
group is aiming to strengthen its position in the health and
nutrition sector.
Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis is once again putting its
health food and sports nutrition products up for sale, according to
a report today in French business magazine Challenges.
The health food and sports nutrition business of Novartis, now
called Nutrition & Santé, saw a small rise in sales for fiscal
2002. The Swiss pharma group is trying to grow the unit ahead of
its planned divestment.
Aiming to profit from current booming calcium supplement sales,
Swiss health foods company Wander has launched a powdered calcium
supplement on the home market under the Jemalt brand.
After months of negotiations, Canadian nutraceutical products maker
Forbes Medi-Tech has finally reached an agreement with Swiss group
Novartis Consumer Health over the future of the Reducol
cholesterol-lowering ingredient.
Canadian group Forbes Medi-Tech, a producer of cholesterol-lowering
food ingredients, has been approached by Novartis Consumer Health
to help it find a buyer for the Take Heart line of food products
enriched with Forbes' Reducol.