April 18, 2012/by Anupreeta Das, Dana Cimilluca and Jonathan D. Rockoff

Pfizer is close to selling its infant-nutrition business to Nestle SA for at least $9 billion, people familiar with the matter said, in what would be one of the largest deals so far this year.

Nestle, the Swiss food giant, appears to have triumphed in an auction for the business over Groupe Danone and Mead Johnson Nutrition, which had explored a joint bid for the business. Pfizer and Nestle are expected to announce a deal as soon as next week, the people said.

Still, they cautioned, timing could shift and last-minute jockeying could alter the playing field.

Source: WSJ