NZ’s Fonterra completes tender offer for China’s Beingmate

BEIJING - Fonterra Group, New Zealand’s largest dairy exporter, has completed a tender offer for a US$553 million deal to buy an 18.8% stock in Chinese baby formula maker China Beingmate Baby and Child Food Co, to help boost its presence in the Chinese dairy industry.

In an announcement yesterday, Fonterra said it paid RMB 18 (US$2.88) per share for 192 million shares, and the transaction would be closed in the next few days.

CFO Lukas Paravicini said: “Over the next few weeks, Fonterra and Beingmate will move ahead with the next phase of our partnership, including establishing a joint venture to purchase the Darnum plant in Australia and finalising a distribution agreement making Beingmate Fonterra’s exclusive Anmum distributor in China’s mainland.”

Last year, China’s infant formula market increased by 24% to a net worth of US$18 billion. www.webershandwick.cn (ATO).