Nestle Chairman Peter Brabeck does not expect the group to make any acquisitions larger than $200 million to $300 million in the near term due to a lack of attractive targets, he was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Nestle will reap $39 billion in windfall gains from a deal to sell its contact lens division Alcon in several stages and the group has said it would use the proceeds to pay down debt in relation to its ongoing share buyback programme, but that it does not exclude making acquisitions.
Brabeck also said in the interview with Dow Jones Newswires that he does not see Nestle raising sales prices in the coming months as the costs for many ingredients had peaked. "You are now seeing the (financial) impact of price increases which were done some months ago," Brabeck said.
"I would expect this to flatten out over the next several months and not increase anymore as our costs have come down." "The worst is probably past" for prices of raw materials such as coffee, cocoa and milk, Brabeck said.