NESTLE TO PICK ADVENT, KKR, EQT FOR SKINHEALTH UNIT BID

LONDON/ZURICH: Nestle SA has selected a slew of private equity (PE) firms and consumer companies to participate in the next round of an auction for its skinhealth business in one of the most hotly contested asset sales in Europe this year, people familiar with the matter said.

A consortium that includes Advent International, Cinven and GIC Pte, as well as KKR & Co. and EQT Partners, are among the firms brought through to the second round, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. Paris-based makeup giant L’oreal SA, Unilever NV and Carlyle Group LP have also been invited to the second round to bid for parts of Nestle’s business, they said.

Nestle may fetch $8 billion to $10 billion for the assets and the company would prefer to sell the unit as a whole, even though it’s considering a piecemeal sale if that generates a higher value, the people said. On Tuesday, the company was still informing bidders that made it into the next round, they said. No final decisions have been made and the companies may decide against proceeding with the auction, the people said. Representatives for Nestle, L’oreal, Unilever, GIC and the PE firms declined to comment.