Lactalis, the French dairy heavyweight, has increased its stake in Italian peer Parmalat to more than 95%.
And it has announced its intention to take the company off the stock market.
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
In a brief announcement this morning, Lactalis, which already owned 89.63% of Parmalat’s shares listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, said that on 3 December it purchased a block of 114,546,237 Parmalat shares, increasing its stake to 95.81% of the capital.
And it is planning to exercise its right to ‘squeeze out’ shares held by minority shareholders in a compulsory buy-back procedure.
Lactalis, through its subsidiary Sofil, has also told the Italian stock exchange authorities its desire to de-list Parmalat, which it has owned for seven years.
Last March Lactalis failed to reach the 90% stake in Parmalat that it needed to de-list the company, according to a filing at the time by the Milan bourse.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataThe filing showed Lactalis bought 15.11% of the shares on offer on the last day of a buyout offer on 21 March 2017, equivalent to just under 1.85% more of Parmalat, taking its stake to 89.59%.
Its newly enlarged stake gives it the authority to take the Italian company private.
