BREAKINGVIEWS-Why Nestlé will defy the consumer breakup trend

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Aimee Donnellan

DUBLIN, July 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Unilever is splitting itself apart and Kraft Heinz considered it. Analysts have asked the obvious question of the $274 bln KitKat-to-kibble conglomerate. Yet Nestlé’s high multiple, and thin dividend cover, are good reasons for CEO Philipp Navratil to keep the Swiss group intact.

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CONTEXT NEWS

Nestlé CEO Philipp Navratil said on February 19 that the Swiss consumer group's scale was an advantage, in response to an analyst question about whether the company was "too big" and whether its new structure could make parts of the business easier to spin off.

Unilever on March 31 said that it would combine its foods business with U.S. peer McCormick. Kraft Heinz, another consumer-goods group, on February 11 said that it would "pause" its work related to a previously announced corporate breakup.

(Editing by Liam Proud; Production by Streisand Neto)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on DONNELLAN/Aimee.Donnellan@thomsonreuters.com))