Nestle to acquire Brazilian foodtech Puravida

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Nestle SA on Monday said its Nestle Health Science unit has reached a deal to acquire Brazilian organic, natural, plant-based food maker Puravida.

The company said in a statement that it sees Puravida's portfolio as complementary to its own, noting it already sells nutritional supplements and protein powders in Brazil and will now be able to expand its local health science business.

"This is a great opportunity for us to expand our presence in a sector that is growing globally ... an important step towards advancing in promising market segments that add innovation and technology to our nutrition know-how," Nestle's chief executive in Brazil, Marcelo Melchior, said.

Puravida, which also produces "clean label" nutritional food, was founded in Sao Paulo in 2015 and received investment from private equity firm Aqua Capital in 2020.

Nestle did not disclose financial details of the deal, which still requires approval from Brazil's antitrust watchdog CADE and is expected to close in the second half of 2022.

(Reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Writing by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)