PARIS (Agefi-Dow Jones)–The agri-food group Danone announced on Friday that it had reached an agreement with the Chinese dairy products specialist Mengniu to sell it its latest minority investments in their partnerships: a 25% stake in Yashili and 20 % in their joint venture Inner Mongolia Dairy.
At the same time, Danone announced the acquisition of 100% of Dumex Baby Food, a Chinese infant milk manufacturer, owned by Yashili.
“The closing of these operations will not necessarily be concurrent,” Danone said in a statement. “Subject to compliance with or waiver of the conditions of each of the proposed transactions, a first closing could take place this year,” said the French group.
“Further announcements on compliance with or, where applicable, waiver of the terms of the proposed transactions will be made in accordance with applicable market rules in Hong Kong,” Danone added.
These operations follow the sale of Danone’s 9.8% minority stake in Mengniu announced in 2021. “Their finalization will put an end to the partnership between Danone and Mengniu”, explained the agri-food group.
“China remains a highly strategic country for Danone, and this announcement will allow Danone to strengthen its capacity to produce infant formula locally,” the group’s statement said.
“In line with its capital allocation priorities, the proceeds expected from the operation will be dedicated to Danone’s debt reduction,” he adds.
-Eric Chalmet, Agefi-Dow Jones; 01 41 27 47 95; [email protected] ed: XXX
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May 06, 2022 11:29 ET (15:29 GMT)