Chris Hughes, Columnist

Nestle's Growth Supplements

Merck's consumer-health business isn't an obvious way to buy durable growth.

September 11, 2017 at 12:10 PM UTC

Chris Hughes is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals. Previously, he worked for Reuters Breakingviews, the Financial Times and the Independent newspaper.

1505130334_GettyImages-2661468 — Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

When Dan Loeb called on Nestle SA to overhaul its portfolio in June, the activist left the food giant room to make some acquisitions.

Now, according to Reuters, the Swiss company is looking at a purchase of Merck KGaA's consumer health business, best known for producing Seven Seas vitamins. The operation could be worth about 4 billion euros ($4.8 billion).