Nestlé in talks over sale of British ice-cream unit
The food giant, Nestlé, is in talks with Richmond Foods over the sale of its British ice-cream business.
Nestlé's interests in Britain include the Lyons-Maid business it bought nine years ago and also the ice-cream versions of its own confectionary brands like Kit-Kat.
"If successful, the discussions will result in the business being sold to Richmond," said a Richmond company statement. "This will give Richmond the right to manufacture, import, distribute and sell Nestlé's range of ice-cream brands in the UK and Ireland." The statement did not disclose a price.
Richmond has been slowly building up its ice-cream business but still trails behind Britain's market leader Birds Eye Walls that has brands such as Magnum, Cornetto and Carte d'Or.
Nestlé bought into the British ice-cream market in 1992 when it acquired Clarke foods from the receivers for a nominal amount.
Swissinfo with agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.