French dairy company Lactalis is set to acquire Itambé, a Brazilian dairy group, from rural producers’ cooperative CCPR.
The value of the transaction was not disclosed, but people familiar with the matter say that Lactalis paid more than the R$1.4 billion (€361.2 million) bid by Mexico’s Lala Group, according to Brazil's Folha de São Paulo.
The deal is still pending approval from Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defence, however, it is reported that the merger should be completed in the first half of 2018.
Brazilian Expansion
Lactalis is present in Brazil with the dairy brands Batavo, Elegê, Parmalat, Président, Poços de Caldas and Balkis, among others.
With the acquisition of Itambé, Lactalis is set to become the largest milk purchaser in Brazil, surpassing Nestlé.
Last year, Nestlé’s operations generated 1.69 billion litres of milk, followed by Lactalis, with 1.62 billion, and CCPR/Itambé, with 1.1 billion, according to the Brazilian Milk Association.
Earlier this year, Lactalis said that it intends to increase productivity at its milk plants in Brazil by 30% within the next year.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
