Japan’s leading dairy product manufacturer Megmilk Snow Brand is to merge with its two shareholders, Snow Brand Products (SBP) and Nippon Milk Company (NMC), in April 2011.

After the integration, the new company will keep the Megmilk Snow Brand name and continue to manufacture diary products such as milk, yoghurt, cheese and butter, a Megmilk spokesperon said.

He added that the integration is part of a three-year plan the company made in 2009 when it was set up as a joint venture between SBP and NMC, with an investment of JPY20 billion (US$245.8 million).

“We hope the integration will help maximise synergies and strengthen the company structure, and eventually help us achieve our mid-term business plan,” he said. Megmilk now plans to reach JPY580 billion in sales by 2014, up 14% on the JPY505 billion posted in 2009. The new structure of the company is yet to be decided.