HARARE, Zimbabwe — The food maker H. J. Heinz Co., one of Zimbabwe's first major foreign investors, sold its Zimbabwe interests to a government controlled cotton company, it was disclosed Monday.

Cottco, which includes the main cotton buyers and processors in which the government holds a majority stake, paid $6.8 million for Heinz's 51 percent stake in Zimbabwe's Olivine Industries, makers of fats, edible oils — some from cotton seed — and soaps. The government previously shared ownership of Olivine with Pittsburgh-based Heinz, best-known for its ketchup, beans and soups.

"This sale is another step in the company's global strategy to drive profitable growth and innovation in three core categories where Heinz has strong brands," Heinz spokesman Michael Mullen said Monday in a statement. "The decision to sell the business was only taken after a comprehensive review of all strategic options."

Cottco, formerly the state Cotton Marketing Board, said the Heinz buyout would add "critical mass" to Cottco, allowing it to diversify.

Industry executives dismissed reports in the state media Monday the Heinz deal was the first in a much publicized program by the government to take over white-controlled businesses.

The executives said the deal was in negotiation months before plans were announced by President Robert Mugabe earlier this year to force all businesses to relinquish 51 percent of their ownership to black Zimbabweans.

Plans were unveiled in the Harare Parliament last month and are scheduled to be passed by the ruling party-dominated legislature soon after the draft has been scrutinized by a legal committee of lawmakers.

Zimbabwe's economic meltdown has made doing business here a challenge for both local companies and foreign investors.