A joint venture part-owned by Nestle, the global food and consumer goods giant, is closing in on a deal to buy Crosta Mollica, the premium pizza brand.
Sky News has learnt that European Pizza Group, which is owned by Nestle and PAI Partners, the private equity firm, is hopeful of securing exclusive talks to buy Crosta Mollica as soon as next week.
City sources said Crosta Mollica was expected to fetch a price of well over £300m.
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They added that other parties remained in contention to buy Crosta Mollica and cautioned that a deal had yet to be signed.
European Pizza Group, which was established in 2023 as the home of Nestle's frozen pizza business in Europe, faced competition to buy Crosta Mollica from rival bidders including London-listed Premier Foods.
Crosta Mollica is owned by the private investment firm Perwyn, which hired bankers from Harris Williams to field interest from potential buyers earlier this year.
The identity of other suitors for the business was unclear on Friday.
Crosta Mollica's auction comes at a time of intense activity in food industry mergers and takeovers.
Sky News revealed this week that the Colman's Mustard brand had been put up for sale as part of Unilever's multibillion-pound deal to merge its food operations with McCormick of the US.
PAI has been approached for comment.
(c) Sky News 2026: Nestle-backed pizza producer bakes bid for Crosta Mollica
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