Italian dairy company Granarolo has snapped up local cheese maker Lat Bri.
Granarolo said Lat Bri is Italy’s third-largest producer of fresh cheese and claimed the deal would strengthen its operations at home and abroad.
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The company said Lat Bri’s turnover of around EUR150m (US$214.3m) would double its own sales from cheese and lead to the “significant growth” of its exports.
“The acquisition of Lat Bri is of strong strategic importance,” Granarolo chairman Gianpiero Calzolari said today (1 September). “It lays the foundation for further development in the dairy sector in Italy and makes Granarolo the second national operator in this sector. Abroad, we will develop synergies by taking products made in Italy to European consumers, especially in northern Europe, where Lat Bri has long had a widespread market presence.”
Financial details were not disclosed. The deal is the first made by Granarolo since it was linked to larger Italian rival Parmalat earlier in the year.
The ownership of Parmalat made the business and political headlines in Italy in March when French dairy giant Lactalis built a 29% stake in the business.
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By GlobalDataReports said a national consortium of business organisations and banks, including Granarolo, was being discussed to buy Parmalat and keep the company in Italian hands.
Other reports claimed Parmalat could have bought Granarolo first before being purchased by a national consortium.
In April, Lactalis launched a full takeover bid worth EUR3.38bn for Parmalat and, by July, had secured 83% of the business.
