Traditional Medicine vs Modern Medicine

The Swiss food giant has struck a deal to sell its struggling Jenny Craig diet business unit to North Castle Partners LLC, the U.S. buyout firm said Thursday. It is unclear what value the deal puts on Jenny Craig. North Castle plans to combine Jenny Craig with Curves International, the female-oriented fitness club franchiser it acquired last year. Jenny Craig's results have been cloaked in Nestlé's income statement since the Carlsbad, Calif., company was bought by the food company in 2006. As recently as 2010, Nestlé touted Jenny Craig's growing share of the diet business, which it said was about 32% in 2009—second only to Weight Watchers. More recently, however, Nestlé executives have acknowledged Jenny Craig has underperformed. Nestlé bankers found a buyer in North Castle, a Greenwich, Conn. firm that invests exclusively in consumer businesses in the health and wellness sector.