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Time - Man of the Year
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0406205.000
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1992-08-28
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BUSINESS, Page 51Business NotesTAKEOVERSTroubled Waters?
Nestle outfought Italy's Agnelli family last week in a
trans-European bidding battle over Source Perrier of France --
but the victory may get the Swiss food giant into, well, hot
water. Suspecting a violation of European Community competition
rules, the E.C. Mergers Task Force in Brussels has opened an
investigation into the $2.7 billion takeover.
The Task Force believes the acquisition of Perrier, the
world's leading brand of mineral water, with 20% of the market,
gives Nestle half of all bottled-water sales in France. Perrier
also owns Poland Spring, Great Bear and Arrowhead in the U.S.
The panel will also look into a possible duopoly created by
Nestle's sale of Volvic, one of Perrier's still-water brands,
to France's leading food group, BSN. Should it uncover
violations, Brussels will probably seek redress by forcing
Nestle to sell off some assets rather than annulling the deal,
a punishment the E.C. has carried out only once before.
Though the Agnellis pocketed a $475 million profit for
their controlling stake in Perrier, the family's hopes of making
a splash in the lucrative mineral-water market were thwarted.
Overall sales for waters such as Perrier and Evian, the
worldwide leaders in the mineral and still-water categories
respectively, are growing almost 10% annually -- faster than any
other product in the food-and-drink industry.