Nestle said to be buying Gerber

Nestle is expected to announce a $5-billion deal to acquire baby-food maker Gerber Products Co. from Novartis, sources familiar with the situation said Wednesday.

Novartis, the world’s fourth-biggest pharmaceutical company, declined to comment. Nestle could not be immediately reached for comment.

Although Swiss firm Nestle is the world’s biggest maker of infant nutritional products, it lacks a baby-food brand in the U.S. and has been keen to buy Parsippany, N.J.-based Gerber for more than a decade.

Nestle Chief Financial Officer Paul Polman reiterated in January that the company would be interested in Gerber if it was put up for sale.

Novartis said in January that it was under no pressure to sell Gerber. However, a sale would allow the Swiss company to focus on its core drugs business, sources said.

Nestle is the world’s biggest food and drink company, with products including Nescafe coffee, KitKat chocolate bars and Perrier bottled water. It tried to buy Gerber in the early 1990s but lost out to Sandoz, which later became part of Novartis.

An acquisition of Gerber would continue Nestle’s push into health and nutrition. Nestle recently bought the medical nutrition business of Novartis for $2.5 billion.