The Chief Executive of Nestlé has strongly denied rumours that the company have made a string of bids for Ferrero, the family run business behind Nutella.
Paul Bulcke [pictured] was interviewed last night on Sky News' special business insight show, Jeff Randall live, mainly about the strong performance of Nestlé in their Q3 results.
But he was also asked about various reports which have surfaced in Italian media over the past week which say Nestlé have offered to buy out Ferrero.
"That is speculation that is in the press and I am not going to comment on speculation," said Bulcke.
"So you're not saying no?" probed the Sky News reporter. "But I'm not saying yes either," Bulcke responded.
Italian newspaper La Repubblica said on Thursday, without citing any sources directly involved in the matter that Swiss food group Nestle has submitted an offer to buy Italy's Ferrero.
The paper said people "in the headquarters of several leading national banks" had been talking for days about the Nestle proposal, but negotiations were at an "embryonic" stage.
“Nestlé have tried, but Ferrero is like a fortress. The talks did not reach any serious level,” said one senior European investment banker close to the Ferrero family in yesterday's Financial Times.
Talking further on Sky News about Nestlé's partnership with Google in developing the AndroidKitkat, Bulke said that the move "shows that we are embracing the priority we set two years ago; going for digital".
