Novartis Puts Health and Functional Food Business Up for Sale

BASEL, Switzerland--Novartis announced that it intends to divest itself of its Health and Functional Food (H&FF) business in order to focus on its other health care products, namely pharmaceuticals. The H&FF business consists of three categories: food and beverages; health food and weight-loss products; and sports nutrition. The brands that belong to these categories include "the world's first fortified malt drink," Ovaltine, as well as Modifast and Isostar.

The company (www.novartis.com) expects to complete divestiture of the H&FF business within six to 12 months. "Our [H&FF] brands are strong and well-established, and we believe their growth can be accelerated in companies where there is a good strategic fit," stated Daniel Vasella, chairman and chief executive officer at Novartis. He added that realigning the company's businesses will help to increase customer focus and provide room for entrepreneurial opportunities to further stimulate growth.

The company's Consumer Health Sector now contains five global businesses: over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, infant and baby products (including Gerber), CIBA Vision, Animal Health and Medical Nutrition. Because of the time difference, the company's U.K. office did not return requests for comment by press time.