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.
Money latest: Tesla takes $150bn hit as Musk-Trump row explodes
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."
Trade war: US hiring slows but employment resilient
Money blog: Greggs trialling new sandwich - but only in 20 stores
Musk says Trump appears in Epstein files and $150bn wiped off Tesla's value as row between them explodes
Dieting brands such as SlimFast have been hit hard by the rise of weight loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic in recent years.
Read more:
Pregnancy warning for weight loss jabs
What are the weight loss injections?
Sources said that Glanbia's advisers were marketing the SlimFast business based on a pipeline of new product developments and brand positioning.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
A sale is expected to be finalised later this year, depending upon the price offered by prospective buyers.
Glanbia declined to comment.