Reckitt Benckiser is considering the sale of its subsidiary, Mead Johnson Nutritionals, which is based in China. It was said that the British multinational consumer goods company is eyeing at least $2 billion for the deal.
Sources who have knowledge on the matter told Reuters that Reckitt Benckiser already hired the American financial services company, Morgan Stanley, to review its Mead Johnson infant formula unit in Greater China. The insiders were not names since the information shared is confidential.
The plans for the sale of Mead Johnson’s infant formula
Based on the report, Reckitt Benckiser could commence the sale process any time within the second quarter of this year. As soon as the bank receives feedback or recommendation from potential buyers, the sale will begin.
Then again, all the interested parties have been warned that Reckitt Benckiser has not made any definite decision yet, and business valuation could still change because of the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, in February, it was said that the company is exploring its other options on how to handle Mead Johnson’s infant formula unit.
In any case, Reckitt Benckiser acquired Mead Johnson in 2017 for $16.6 billion in 2017. The infant formula-maker gave the company billions from the sale of its leading milk brands that include Lactum, Enfapro, and Enfamil.
Why Mead Johnson is being sold
Reckitt Benckiser’s chief executive officer, Laxman Narasimhan, said that there is a big decline in sales in China which makes up 6 percent of the group sales. The reason for the dive is the closure of the Hong Kong border that is taking a long time to re-open due to coronavirus.
Also, the birth rate in one of the most populous countries in the world has gone down as well, so there is less infant to feed with the formula from Mead Johnson. Lastly, Chinese locals have been choosing to buy imported milk due to the 2008 milk contamination controversy scandal. In fact, it was noted that on China’s leading e-commerce platform, JD.Com, the top four best-selling brands of infant formula are all from foreign labels.


Elon Musk Becomes World's First Trillionaire After SpaceX IPO Surge
ByteDance Eyes Iluvatar, Baidu AI Chips Amid China’s AI Push
SpaceX IPO Set for Explosive Debut as Valuation Tops $2.2 Trillion
Alibaba Offers $1.5 Billion to Acquire Grocery Delivery Platform Pupu
Wizz Air Beats Profit Forecast as Cost Controls Offset Industry Challenges
AI Memory Boom Sparks Global Chip Supply Crunch
Astera Labs and Rocket Lab Surge After Nasdaq-100 Inclusion Announcement
Woodside Energy Denies Exxon Mobil Takeover Talks Amid LNG Growth Focus
Sigma Healthcare Shares Jump After Exiting Boots Acquisition Process
SpaceX IPO Sets Record With $75 Billion Raise, Valuation Hits $1.77 Trillion
Roku Explores Sale Options as Interest Grows in Streaming and Ad Business
Adobe Beats Q2 2026 Estimates, Raises Full-Year Outlook as AI Revenue Surges Despite Stock Drop
Exxon Mobil Set to Appoint Alex Volkov as Global Trading Chief
Anthropic Officials Meet White House Over AI Model Outage
SpaceX Stock Gets $175 Target as Analysts See Massive Growth Ahead
EngineAI Files for Hong Kong IPO Amid Rising Demand for AI and Robotics Stocks 



