Lactalis Wins Bid For Fonterra Assets

The transaction includes Fonterra’s world user business, excluding Greater China, and brands specified arsenic Mainland and Anchor.

Fonterra firm logo connected a dairy installation successful New Zealand. Credit: Olyver Whyte/Shutterstock.com.

French dairy elephantine Lactalis has travel up trumps successful sealing nan acquisition of nan consuming-facing assets of New Zealand-headquartered Fonterra.

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The transaction includes Fonterra’s world user dairy business, excluding Greater China, and brands specified arsenic Mainland, Anchor, and Perfect Italiano. It besides takes successful nan co-op’s foodservice and ingredients businesses successful Oceania and Sri Lanka, on pinch nan Middle East and Africa out-of-home business.

As portion of nan deal, 4,300 labor will subordinate Lactalis’ operating section successful Australia.

Fonterra announced successful May 2024 that it planned to discontinue nan consumer-facing parts of nan business to attraction connected ingredients successful what it called a “step-change successful strategical direction”.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced successful May it had received a proposal from Lactalis to get Fonterra’s world user business and nan co-op’s dairy and ingredients foodservice businesses successful Australia.

It was besides antecedently speculated, but ne'er confirmed, that Canada-based dairy awesome Saputo, Japan’s Meiji Holding Co., and US finance institution Warburg Pincus mightiness besides beryllium willing successful acquiring Fonterra’s up-for-sale businesses.

Separately, Australia’s Bega Group announced successful June its intent to activity “informal merger clearance” from nan ACCC for a potential acquisition of Fonterra’s Oceania business unit.

The Fonterra committee opted for a waste aft evaluating nan position and worth of some a disposal and an IPO arsenic imaginable options.

Fonterra president Peter McBride said today: “Following a highly competitory waste process pinch aggregate willing bidders, nan Fonterra committee is assured a waste to Lactalis is nan highest-value-option for nan co-op, including complete nan agelong term.

“Alongside a beardown valuation for nan businesses being divested, nan waste allows for a afloat divestment of nan assets by Fonterra, and a faster return of superior to nan co-op’s owners, erstwhile compared pinch an IPO.”

The deal’s worth could emergence by NZ$375m if nan Bega accumulation licences presently held by Fonterra’s Australian business are included, taxable to support by nan Australian group, Fonterra said.

If nan licences are excluded, Fonterra anticipates receiving a adjacent worth costs from Bega, to beryllium wished astatine a later date.

The transaction involves nan waste of shares successful Mainland Group Holdings, which was group up by Fonterra to location nan up-for-sale assets.

Fonterra said nan woody requires shareholder support and regulatory clearances from New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Office, Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board, and title and foreign-investment regulators successful countries including Kuwait, New Caledonia, and Saudi Arabia.

In July 2025, nan ACCC confirmed it would not reason Lactalis’ projected acquisition successful Australia.

Fonterra added it will activity husbandman shareholder support done an mean solution astatine a typical gathering scheduled for precocious October aliases early November. Contingent connected each approvals, nan woody is expected to finalise successful nan first half of 2026.