Nestle to divest its water business in China to Tsingtao Brewery

Nestle will divest its China bottled water business to Tsingtao Brewery, in line with the group’s strategy in North America, in which it plans to focus only on premium bottled water brands.
Tsingtao has agreed to buy Nestle’s water business in mainland China, including the local brand Dashan Yunnan Shan Quan. Tsingtao will also acquire a licensing deal for global brand Nestle Pure Life in the country.
Tsingtao will take control of 3 production facilities located in Kunming, Shanghai and Tianjin. Excluded from the deal are Nestle’s international (premium) brands that include Perrier, S. Pellegrino and Acqua Panna which the group will retain control in China.
Nestle will consider offloading low-value bottled water operations outside of North America. The company had previously said it is ‘fully committed’ to its Nestle Pure Life portfolio internationally.