Libby, McNeill & Libby Inc., the canned-food company founded here 117 years ago, will close all its Chicago operations within the next 6 to 15 months. The moves will affect about 655 employees.

The closings will come as Libby is dissolved as a corporate unit of Nestle Holdings Inc. and Libby`s product lines are divided between two other Nestle units, Nestle Foods Corp. of White Plains, N.Y., and Carnation Co. of Los Angeles.

Nestle Holdings, itself a unit of Switzerland-based Nestle Alimentana S.A., said Wednesday that Libby`s headquarters, at 200 S. Michigan Ave., and its food production plant, at 1700 W. 119 St. in the Morgan Park neighborhood, would be closed within the next 6 to 9 months. A distribution center at the Southwest Side plant will be closed in the next 9 to 15 months.

Nestle Holdings said Libby has about 205 employees at its headquarters and about 450 at the Morgan Park facility.

The United Food and Commercial Workers represent Libby`s plant employees, and the Retail Wholesale & Department Store Union represents Libby`s distribution center employees. Efforts to reach officials of those unions for comment were unsuccessful.

In a statement, James M. Biggar, Nestle Holdings president and chief executive officer, said of the planned Libby closings:

”Competitive realities of the marketplace and the necessity to best utilize our current marketing and production strengths required us to make this difficult decision. Where feasible, Libby people will be transferred to Carnation or Nestle Foods, and we will work with the other employees to ease their transition into other jobs.”

Nestle Holdings has owned Libby since 1970. It acquired Carnation earlier this year.

In a statement, Leonard Judy, Libby president, said there will be meetings held with all Libby employees within the next 30 days to advise them on their future employment status and relocation opportunities.

A spokesman for Nestle Holdings said its only other Chicago-area operations are hotels and restaurants operated by its Stouffer Foods unit.

Judy said that all Libby canned-meat operations will be transferred to Carnation`s plant in Trenton, Mo. Libby`s beverage production will be transferred to Garden City, N.Y., and West Coast facilities. Libby canned pumpkin will continue to be produced at Morton, Ill., near Peoria.

Libby`s current products will continue to carry the Libby label as well as such brand names as Crosse & Blackwell, Juicy Juice, Broadcast, Heart`s Delight and Maggi. Libby markets canned meats, salmon, pumpkin, juices and other grocery products.

Libby started in 1868 in Chicago as a corned-beef packer. Over the next century, it expanded, with varying success, into a wide range of canned and frozen foods. There have been rumors over the years that Nestle has been unsatisfied with Libby`s earnings performance, particularly when compared with profit margins of Stouffer.

In 1982, Libby sold its large fruit- and vegetable-canning business and cut back operations. Before that divestiture, Libby operated 16 factories, employed about 1,200 people and had annual sales of about $500 million. One food industry observer estimated Libby`s annual sales at between $300 million and $400 million.