Nestle USA Agrees to Acquire PowerBar

Nestle USA Inc. has reached an agreement to purchase PowerBar Inc., a maker of energy and nutrition bars.

The deal announced Wednesday includes PowerBar’s Canadian and European subsidiaries and is subject to regulatory approval. The price was not disclosed.

“PowerBar is the leading energy and nutrition bar brand in the U.S.,” said Joe Weller, chairman and chief executive of Glendale-based Nestle USA. Berkeley-based PowerBar, which has annual sales of $135 million, has a manufacturing facility in Boise, Idaho, and distribution centers in Boise and Charlotte, N.C.

It also has two subsidiaries, PowerBar Foods Canada Inc. in Toronto, and PowerBar Europe in Munich. Nestle USA is part of Switzerland-based Nestle, the world’s largest food company, with sales of $52 billion in 1998.

Separately, vitamin maker Rexall Sundown Inc. agreed to buy closely held Worldwide Sport Nutritional Supplements Inc. for $71.5 million in cash, two months after reaching an agreement to buy Irvine-based MET-RX Nutrition Inc., another maker of sports nutrition bars and drinks, for $108 million.

Faro, Fla.-based Worldwide makes nutrition bars and shakes under the brand names PureProtein and Burn-IT, which are distributed mostly through health-food stores and fitness centers as well as regular retail stores. The company, founded in 1994, had revenue of $42 million last year.

Shares of Boca Raton, Fla.-based Rexall Sundown closed off 6 cents at $14.75 on Nasdaq.

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Bloomberg News was used in compiling this report.