NOT IN THE TEA LEAVES

Hain’s sale cold

The Hain Celestial Group cannot find a buyer for the $4.2 billion market-cap company — despite being informally for sale for roughly a year, four sources familiar with the situation told The Post.

Founder and Chief Executive Irwin Simon built his NewYork organic-foods powerhouse to ultimately sell it, sources said, but failed to find a buyer because he expanded the company to include too many brands, the sources said.

No one brand is large enough to entice a suitor to pay Simon’s asking price, sources said.

Simon on Thursday declined to say whether Hain has been informally for sale but conceded that a public company like his is always available at the right price.

Hain, best-known for brands like Celestial Seasonings teas, Terra chips, Garden of Eatin’ and Earth’s Best, also has a stable full of lesserknown brands that represent a significant number of sales.

For example, its low-margin, antibiotic-free chicken and turkey division accounted for 18 percent of sales in the year ended June 30.

Simon has been trying to build certain brands to make Hain more mainstream.

“Maybe [the sale plan] will involve selling some of my more lower-margin busi- nesses,” Simon said.

The breakdown in the sales process could take some steam out of Hain’s shares.

In November, Nestle SA was in preliminary talks to buy Hain, according to several reports — causing Hain’s shares to spike roughly 20 percent, to above $41 a share.

On Thursday, Hain closed at $40.60.

Nestle has told Hain it is interested in buying the business if it first sells its chicken and turkey division, a source said.

“I’ve said this year we are looking at a strategic overview of all of our business, and some things may not fit,” Simon told The Post. “We have not made any decisions,” although the chicken and turkey division is a divestiture candidate.

Simon said Hain’s biggest customer is Amazon, which represents 10 percent to 11 percent of sales. Over the past year, Hain has reduced the number of different products it sells to Amazon’s Whole Foods by half — to 700.

“We went through a major SKUrationalization this year,” Simon said.

Hain’s goal, he says, is to boost sales for its most valuable brands to lift its trading multiple or to sell Hain to a large consumer foods company that is willing to pay a premium for the potential growth.

Shareholder activist Engaged Capital in September gained Hain board seats and is believed to be pushing for a sale, sources said.