Nestlé and Platinum Equity form €5 billion water venture with San Pellegrino
Nestlé and Platinum Equity are forming Peranel, a 50-50 joint venture valued at about €5 billion, bringing together San Pellegrino, Acqua Panna, Levissima and Perrier. The new owner structure is expected to pursue premium hospitality growth, particularly in North America, while questions remain over future investment, labor relations and possible portfolio changes.
A €5 billion water partnership
Nestlé and US private-equity firm Platinum Equity are creating Peranel, a 50-50 joint venture that will own San Pellegrino, Acqua Panna, Levissima and Perrier. Corriere della Sera reports that the transaction values the business at about €5 billion and that the new company will be based in Paris. Muriel Lienau, a Swiss-trained executive, is expected to continue leading it for at least another year and a half.
The transaction does not amount to a complete exit by Nestlé. The Swiss group will retain half of Peranel, while Platinum will provide fresh capital and participate in the management of a more focused water portfolio. Official statements accompanying the deal envisage no withdrawal from Italy and instead point to a commercial relaunch. Peranel has also indicated that it intends to pursue further acquisitions.
The deal marks Platinum Equity’s entry into the European market. The California-based fund was founded by US-Israeli billionaire Tom Gores, owner of the Detroit Pistons, and specializes in acquiring individual businesses carved out of multinational groups.
From Italian label to global premium brand
Nestlé acquired San Pellegrino in 1998 and turned a brand previously known in a relatively limited geography into a product sold in 150 countries. It established a premium position in table water and became a common choice in five-star restaurants. According to Corriere della Sera, Nestlé invested hundreds of millions of euros in the brand and its operations, including €200 million during the last three years.
That investment also supported production in Italy. San Pellegrino is linked to its source and facilities in the Bergamo area, while Acqua Panna comes from the Scarperia plant near Florence and Levissima from Sondrio. A source cannot be relocated, limiting the scope for transferring core extraction operations abroad. Nestlé also developed a modern plant in Val Brembana designed by Danish architectural studio Bjarke Ingels.
The Italian assets now enter a structure that also includes Perrier. Nestlé’s decision reflects a broader portfolio simplification under chief executive Philipp Navratil, who intends to concentrate resources on faster-growing categories such as coffee, pet food and nutritional products. Mineral water requires substantial logistics and infrastructure capital. At the same time, Perrier has faced scrutiny from French authorities in a dispute concerning filtration and treatment of its sources.
Premium growth and portfolio questions
Industrial analysts cited by Corriere della Sera expect the new owners to reinforce the premium positioning of San Pellegrino and possibly Acqua Panna. The principal growth target appears to be premium restaurants, especially in North America. The commercial logic would move the brands further beyond ordinary mineral water and closer to the pricing and positioning of premium soft drinks.
Platinum’s capital and a more agile decision-making structure could support marketing, distribution and acquisitions. San Pellegrino already has wide international recognition, so further growth will depend less on entering countries for the first time and more on gaining distribution in high-value channels, strengthening restaurant placement and sustaining prices that justify continued investment in Italian production and logistics.
Labor relations remain under observation
Italian trade union Flai-Cgil described Nestlé as a strong industrial partner with high-quality collective bargaining and good results. Its secretary general, Angelo Paolella, said the sale had been expected but noted that Platinum remains largely unknown to the union, particularly regarding its approach to employees and local communities.
Paolella does not currently expect significant employment effects, although he identified the Italian head office as potentially exposed to consolidation in Paris. He also raised the longer-term possibility that Platinum could prioritize San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna while eventually considering a sale of Levissima and the former Vera beverage operations in San Giorgio in Bosco. He stressed that this remains a distant scenario. The immediate test for Peranel will be whether fresh capital and premium expansion can preserve Nestlé’s investment record while maintaining employment and industrial relations in Italy.
