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FrieslandCampina remains in the race for Fonterra division
FrieslandCampina remains in the race to acquire Fonterra's Australian consumer business. The Dutch dairy cooperative is reportedly collaborating with Australian dairy producer Bega Group in this effort.
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The newspaper refers to a consortium between Bega Group and FrieslandCampina, without providing further details. It does state that they submitted a joint bid on July 4th, as did the other interested parties. A final bid has not yet been made, however; further bidding rounds are expected to follow. The newspaper reports, citing anonymous sources, that FrieslandCampina is being supported by the American bank Citi Group. The wealthy Forrest family is behind Bega.
FrieslandCampina stated in a statement that it will not comment on the acquisition news, as is standard policy. FrieslandCampina's interest is certainly not unexpected. In August of last year, they were already mentioned as one of the interested parties. named, aside from a partnership with Bega Group. Fonterra has long been eyeing its Australian consumer goods division and is seeking a hefty $4 billion, though analysts believe this is overspending.
Competition authorities
Lactalis is also being considered as a buyer. The French dairy giant has informed the Australian Competition Authority (ACCC), which announced late last week that it has no objections to a potential deal, despite Lactalis already dominating the Australian market as the largest processor. This also applies to Bega Group, which is listed as the third-largest processor. Bega has also reportedly made informal inquiries with the competition authorities, the results of which are unknown.
Japan's Meiji era is described by Australian media as the so-called dark horse in the takeover battle. Saputo was initially also mentioned as a potential buyer, but that interest has reportedly waned.