Reynolds Metals May Sell Eskimo Pie to Nestle USA

Nestle USA Inc. in Glendale is negotiating to buy Eskimo Pie Corp. from Reynolds Metals Co., which owns 84% of the ice cream company. Potential terms were not disclosed.

Reynolds, the nation’s second-largest aluminum concern and the maker of such consumer products as Reynolds Wrap foil, said it wants to sell Eskimo Pie to focus only on aluminum and related businesses.

Both Reynolds, which had sales of $6.1 billion last year, and Eskimo Pie are based in Richmond, Va. Nestle USA, with sales expected to top $7 billion this year, is the U. S. arm of food giant Nestle SA of Switzerland.

Eskimo Pie, founded in 1920 and acquired by Reynolds in 1924, earned $2 million on sales of $48 million in 1990, and it earned a similar profit in the first half of this year on sales of $31 million, Reynolds said. The remaining 16% of Eskimo Pie’s stock is owned by a Reynolds charitable foundation and public investors.