Nestlé Waters, a unit of Swiss food giant Nestlé, has announced that it has acquired Clear Water group, a home and office delivery (HOD) water operator in Russia. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Clear Water’s sales are expected to exceed €15m (US$16.1m) in 2002, with a client base of more than 40,000, primarily in the Moscow and Saint Petersburg regions. The purchase follows Nestlé’s acquisition of another Russian water company, Saint Springs, which derives around 25% of its sales from HOD, in July 2002. Nestlé said the acquisition of Clear Water will help it to build an efficient and solid HOD platform in Russia.
Nestlé Waters has had a distribution office in Russia for many years, overseeing sales its primary brands, such as Perrier, Vittel and San Pellegrino.
The acquisition is Nestlé’s second in the HOD sector within a few weeks. Earlier this month, the company acquired Powwow, a Europe-based home and office delivery water business which operates in Germany, France, the Netherlands, the UK, Denmark, Italy and Portugal, employing 1,500 people, with sales of €120m in 2002.
