One of the five largest global dairy companies, Dutch cooperative Royal FrieslandCampina is buying Olam International’s Ivory Coast dairy business for a total of $25 million cash. $18.7 million of the purchase price will be allocated for the purchase of the business which includes a dairy facility which processes fresh milk and milk powder into sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk for local markets, and $6.3 million is being allocated for the use of Olam’s ‘Pearl’ trademark in certain countries. The purchase comes as potential growth in developed markets becoming more limited is pushing global dairy players to expand into the emerging markets of Africa and Asia. In July France-based Danone purchased a 40% stake in Kenya’s Brookside dairy company, and recently New Zealand-based Fonterra announced the acquisition of a stake in Chinese infant nutrition company Beingmate. FrieslandCampina already has a presence in Ghana and Nigeria and this Ivory Coast purchase will enable the company to expand its presence in West Africa. For Olam, which has dairy farms in Uruguay and Russia, the deal enables the company to focus its dairy business on upstream and midstream operations.
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