Nestle, Unilever, Pepsi and Danone are among Alpro Soya bidders

The European market-leader soya brand is for sale since the beginning of the year, Nestle or Unilever seem to have offered the most so far.

 Belgian media has said that several private equity funds were also in the running for the company but hadn’t offered as much as Nestle and Unilever. PepsiCo and Goupe Danone were also reported to be interested in the deal. Belgian Vandenmoortele Group, which owns Alpro Soya, put the firm on the market earlier this year in a bid to reduce its net debt after its purchase of French bakery outfit Panavi.  Alpro Soya is the European market leader in soya products, with 2008 sales reaching in excess of EUR 256 million.