Philippines conglomerate San Miguel Corp. has sold leading Australian dairy group National Foods to Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings for A$2.8bn (US$2.6bn).
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The fate of National Foods, the number one player in Australia’s milk and dairy foods categories, had been the subject of speculation since July when San Miguel and Kirin began talks over the company’s future.
San Miguel, which bought National Foods two years ago for around A$1.9bn, has been looking to raise funds to invest in heavy industry in the Philippines.
The conglomerate also today (8 November) announced the sale of Australian brewer J Boag to trans-Tasman brewer and winemaker Lion Nathan.
Kirin is a long-time partner of San Miguel and owns a 20% stake in the company. The Japanese firm is looking to diversify its business away from Japan’s stagnant beer market.
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By GlobalData“By adding National Foods’ strong brands to its product portfolio, Kirin is laying the strong business foundations in the field of food and health in Asia and Oceania,” Kirin said.
The National Foods portfolio includes the Pura Milk brand and King Island Dairy cheese. The company runs 24 production sites – 19 in Australia, two each in Malaysia and Indonesia and one in New Zealand.
Kirin owns a 46% stake in Lion Nathan and said the two companies would “explore opportunities for synergies” with National Foods’ operations.
During the 12 months ending December 2006, National Foods generated A$1.8bn in sales and A$170m in operating profit.
Last year, Kirin restructured its business and set out an aim of generating 30% of sales and profits in overseas markets by 2015.
It has an overseas food seasonings business, Kirin Food-Tech Co., which recently set up a facility in Indonesia to service the Asian processed food market.
