NESTLE

Nigeria's fast-moving consumer goods sector is attracting foreign investors as parent companies pump cash into local units to offset slowing growth at home.

Novartis AG wrapped up its long-awaited buyout of the remainder of U.S.-listed eyecare group Alcon Inc for $12.9 billion, after sweetening its original offer with cash.

Swiss drug maker Novartis will pay $12.9 billion to buy the remaining shares of Alcon it doesn't already own to broaden its presence in the booming eye-care market, which is expected to outgrow the pharmaceuticals market in coming years.

British packaging company DS Smith Plc said first half pretax profit rose 17.5 percent, helped by strong volume and revenue growth in the recycled packaging business.

PepsiCo Inc. announced an agreement to acquire 66 percent of Russia's dairy and fruit juice company Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods for $3.8 billion to boost its base in key markets in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Upon completion of the deal, PepsiCo will be around twice the size of its nearest food and beverage competitor in Russia.

In a taste of things to come, food scientists say they have cooked up a way of using nanotechnology to make low-fat or fat-free foods just as appetizing and satisfying as their full-fat fellows.

Food groups Nestle and CSM warned of a tougher second half due to rising costs but said price increases and forward buying will mitigate the impact of higher wheat and other commodity prices.

Nestle is suing U.S. food group Sara Lee in France for patent infringement of its Nespresso coffee system, the Swiss company said on Tuesday, aiming to protect its top-selling product.

(Reuters) - Bingeing on high-calorie foods may be as addictive as cocaine or nicotine, and could cause compulsive eating and obesity, according to a study published on Sunday.

Swiss food giant Nestle is more likely to sell its 30 percent stake in the world's biggest cosmetics group L'Oreal rather than attempt a takeover with limited strategic logic.

U.S. health regulators warned units of Nestle and more than a dozen other foodmakers about overstating or misstating the nutritional value of baby food, nuts and other products on their labels.

Health regulators have warned units of Nestle and more than a dozen other foodmakers over nutritional claims made for baby food, nuts and other products on food labels and product websites, according to letters made public on Wednesday.

Nestle expects higher sales growth this year after beating 2009 forecasts through strong growth in North America and developing markets.

Nestle , the world's biggest food group, is aiming for higher underlying sales growth in 2010 after a robust performance in Asia and the Americas helped it beat forecasts for 2009.

Swiss food group Nestle is likely to set itself a long-term goal to buy Hershey after the Kraft-Cadbury deal, hoping that market pressures will wear down opposition from the controlling Hershey Trust.

Novartis will likely nudge up its lowball bid to minority shareholders in eyecare group Alcon to push a deal through cleanly, even though it appears to hold all the trump cards.

The world's biggest food group Nestle (NESN.VX) said it had sufficient scale in confectionery and only expected small buys, having ruled out rivaling Kraft Foods' (KFT.N) bid for British chocolate maker Cadbury (CBRY.L).

Swiss drugmaker Novartis (NOVN.VX) is taking a rare stance in the M&A world by lowballing Alcon's minority shareholders.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc said it voted against Kraft Food Inc's proposal to authorize the issuance of up to 370 million shares to help the food maker buy Cadbury , but could reverse to a yes vote, depending on the final offer's details.

Nestle ruled itself out of a bid war over Cadbury and Kraft sweetened its $16.4 billion offer with a bigger cash portion, raising expectations the U.S. food group will win its prize.

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