Dairy processors en masse on takeover path

After a months-long corona crisis, normal life is starting to take shape again. The business is also continuing in many places, which is reflected in the global dairy sector, where several acquisitions took place this week. 

FrieslandCampina announced this week via Melkweb to its member dairy farmers that they are taking over Dutch Nutrition from Zwolle. This company is active in the mixing, packaging and sale of specialized infant nutrition products.

The dairy processor calls it a relatively small acquisition that is of strategic importance to take steps in infant nutrition, an important growth segment of FrieslandCampina. It is FrieslandCampina's first acquisition in 2020. It has not been disclosed how much the dairy group has paid for Dutch Nutrition. 

St Paul on takeover path
St Paul, a Belgian supplier of processed cheese products with headquarters in Sint Jansteen in Zeeland, announced yesterday (May 14) that they are taking over activities from the Swiss Givaudan/Vika. The acquisition relates to processed cheese, grated cheese and air-dried cheese. With this step, the company wants to further strengthen its position. No acquisition price has been disclosed.

New Hope Dairy
At the beginning of this week, the listed Chinese dairy group New Hope Dairy announced that it was taking a majority stake in Huanmei Dairy, a major player in northern China. They deposit 60 billion Chinese Yuan for 1,7% of the shares, which amounts to 220 million euros. It is the second deal in a short time. In October, New Hope Dairy also took a minority stake in China Modern Dairy. The Chinese dairy sector is undergoing consolidation, of which these deals are a good example. 

Dairy Fusion in Austria
Two large milk cooperatives are also going to merge in Austria. Käsehof then becomes Milchhof Salzburg. Both companies were already co-owners of Salzburg Milch, the third largest dairy cooperative in Europe. As a result of the merger, Milchhof Salzburg will soon become the majority shareholder of Salzburg Milch.  

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is Head of Meat & Dairy at BoerenbusinessAt DCA Market Intelligence, he focuses on dairy, pork, and meat markets. He also monitors (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.