Brazil’s antitrust regulator, CADE, has ruled that Swiss food giant Nestlé must divest its Garoto chocolate unit in order to satisfy competition concerns.


In a five to one majority ruling, the regulator said the combination of Nestlé and Garoto would result in a “high degree of market concentration”, reported the Associated Press.


Nestlé bought Garoto, one of Brazil’s largest chocolate companies, in February 2002 for around US$250m.


After CADE’s ruling, Nestlé said it was considering its options.


“This process is not over,” Ivan Zurita, the head of Nestlé’s operations in Brazil, was quoted by AP as saying.  

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In a statement, Nestlé said, “We are surprised and perplexed by the radical position taken by a majority of the members of the Antitrust Agency.”

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