The owner of SlimFast has kicked off a sale of the weight loss brand after hiring advisers to orchestrate an auction.
Sky News understands that Glanbia, the Irish-based company, is working with bankers at Houlihan Lokey on a process to exit its weight management portfolio.
Dubbed Project Lego, a sale would come more than 45 years after SlimFast was founded.
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Glanbia has owned the brand since 2018, when it paid $350m for the business.
Announcing the decision to sell SlimFast in February, Mark Garvey, Glanbia’s chief financial officer, said: “We’ve decided to move on.
“There is a significant change in how weight management is being managed by consumers.”
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Dieting brands such as SlimFast have been hit hard by the rise of weight loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic in recent years.
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Sources said that Glanbia’s advisers were marketing the SlimFast business based on a pipeline of new product developments and brand positioning.
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A sale is expected to be finalised later this year, depending upon the price offered by prospective buyers.
Glanbia declined to comment.
