The auction for high-in-fat Noosa Yoghurt is not going well, The Post has learned.
The Bellvue, Colo., company has been on the block since the beginning of the year, but bids so far have fallen short of the roughly $650 million asking price sought by Advent International, the private equity owners of the 8-year-old brand, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
“Noosa ran into performance issues as the auction evolved,” one source said. “The sale has definitely been delayed. People have new expectations of value.”
The Post reported exclusively in January that Noosa had hired Deutsche Bank and put itself up for sale.
Advent had hoped a Danone or General Mills would take interest in buying the business at desired levels.
Noosa founder Koel Thomae in December appeared on CNBC touting the company. “When you look at the category, what is declining is low-fat and diet yogurt,” she said. “We’re growing in double digits.”
Advent, when buying Noosa in 2014, put two food heavyweights on its board, former Heinz Chief Executive Bill Johnson and former Nestle USA CEO Brad Alford.
Advent did not return calls.