Arla Foods is looking to enter the Dutch liquid milk market through the acquisition of Friesland Foods Fresh Nijkerk from FrieslandCampina.
Friesland Foods Fresh in Nijkerk makes products including milk, natural and fruit-flavoured yoghurt and porridge, as well as the Milk&Fruit and Breaker brands. The business generated revenue of around EUR215m (US$274.2m) in 2007.
Arla, the European dairy cooperative owned by Swedish and Danish farmers, announced today (11 February) that it has struck a deal to takeover the fresh dairy activities, the buildings, land and equipment of Friesland Foods Fresh Nijkerk.
Under the agreement, Arla would acquire the Breaker, Milk&Fruit and Melkunie brands along with a ten-year licensing agreement to use the Friesche Vlag brand for fresh dairy products in the Netherlands.
FrieslandCampina, which was forced to sell the business to gain competition approval for the recently completed merger between Friesland and Campina, has also agreed to guarantee the supply of raw milk to the factory in Nijkerk until 1 January 2017.
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 deal is dependant on competition approval from the European Commission and the Dutch competition authorities. It is expected the transaction will be completed in the course of this year’s second quarter, the companies said.
“This is a very important step for Arla Foods, which makes the Netherlands a new core market for our company,” CEO Peder Tuborgh said.
“It is in perfect alignment with our strategy to become the preferred dairy for consumers in Northern Europe.”
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
