New Zealand dairy business Fonterra has sought to “streamline” its operations in Chile by taking control of Prolesur through the purchase of an additional stake from Fundación Isabel Aninat.
The world’s largest dairy exporter revealed in an announcement this morning (19 December) that Fundación has sold its 13.6% holding for NZD29.3m (US$19.3m), which takes Fonterra’s ownership of Prolesur from 86.2% to 99.9%.
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Based in southern Chile, Prolesur sells most of its produce to Soprole, a local branded dairy company that is also 99.9%-owned by Fonterra.
Fonterra’s CEO for the AMENA region, Kelvin Wickham, said the move will allow the cooperative to “simplify the interface” between Prolesur and Soprole and take steps to better integrate the two businesses.
“Prolesur and Soprole are both strong businesses but their recent performance has been impacted by challenging market conditions,” he said.
“Having the two more closely integrated will generate operating efficiencies across the supply chain from milk collection to processing and administration. It also allows us greater flexibility as we focus on realising the best value for the co-op from our businesses in Chile in line with our new strategy.”
The remaining 0.1% of Prolesur’s shares remain in the hands of shareholders and which Fonterra will seek to acquire.
