Danone Strikes Lifeway Nda To Weigh-up Takeover Move

Lifeway kefir connected waste astatine Harris Teeter successful Apex, North Carolina, United States, 29 March 2025. Credit: PJ McDonnell/Shutterstock.com

Danone has signed an NDA pinch Lifeway Foods to let nan French elephantine to measurement up whether to make different bid for nan US kefir business.

Last year, Lifeway turned down 2 takeover offers from Danone, 1 of nan company’s largest shareholders.

Relations betwixt nan 2 companies since past person been little than smooth, pinch Danone launching a suit claiming Lifeway breached a shareholder agreement. Lifeway has said Danone’s offers magnitude to a “hostile takeover”.

Amid nan hostility betwixt Danone and Lifeway, a long-running family feud has festered astatine nan US patient betwixt chair and CEO Julie Smolyansky, and her mother and brother, Ludmila and Edward Smolyansky, nan company’s largest shareholders.

In an SEC filing connected 1 August, it emerged “representatives” of Danone and Lifeway started talks to “reset” nan narration and clasp discussions complete a “potential acquisition”.

The NDA was signed connected 1 August “in bid to facilitate Danone’s further reappraisal of a imaginable acquisition transaction”, nan SEC filing read.

The position of nan NDA “restrict nan expertise of Danone” to publically make further acquisition proposals, effort to region anyone from Lifeway’s committee aliases participate successful immoderate consent inducement not recommended by nan US company.

That includes nan pending consent inducement of Edward Smolyansky to replace nan full Lifeway board.

Last month, Edward and Ludmila, who ain astir 23.2% of Lifeway’s shares, said they had revenge a “definitive consent statement” to nan SEC to overhaul Lifeway’s board, including replacing CEO Julie, pinch caller nominees “focused connected restoring accountability, transparency and semipermanent shareholder value”. Lifeway called nan move “legally deficient”.

The NDA position expire connected a “standstill expiration date” of 15 September – though it tin beryllium extended by a week if nan companies are successful “good religion discussions”.

The filing added: “If a definitive acquisition statement has not been executed by nan standstill expiration date, Danone presently intends to consent pinch respect to each of nan shares of communal banal it owns successful favour of Edward Smolyansky’s proposals group distant successful his pending consent inducement connection to switch nan full Lifeway committee of directors.”

Danone holds astir 22.7% of Lifeway.