Nestlé has agreed to sell its North American bottled water business to private equity firm One Rock Capital Partners, in partnership with family-owned investment firm Metropoulos & Co., for $4.3 billion.
The deal includes such brands as Poland Spring, Deer Park, Ozarka, Arrowhead, Ice Mountain and Pure Life. Nestlé will retain premium brands Perrier, S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.
Nestlé Waters North America is headquartered in Stamford.
“We continue to transform our global waters business to best position it for long-term profitable growth,” said Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider. “This sale enables us to create a more focused business around our international premium brands, local natural mineral waters and high-quality healthy hydration products.
“We will also boost our innovation and business development efforts to capture emerging consumer trends, such as functional water,” Schneider added.
The agreement follows Nestlé’s announcement last year that it would conduct a strategic review of parts of its North American waters division and sharpen the focus of its global water portfolio.
The Swiss company also reiterated its commitment to make its entire water portfolio carbon-neutral by 2025. In 2020, Nestlé announced renewed sustainability commitments which build on existing efforts to enhance water stewardship and tackle plastic waste.
