Froneri, the global ice-cream venture between Nestlé and private-equity firm PAI Partners, has snapped up the Tip Top brand from New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra.
Tip Top was put on the block by Fonterra in December to help it reduce debt levels. Fonterra, the world’s largest dairy exporter, made a loss in its 2018 financial year, its first ever.
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Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell said: “Since we took ownership of Tip Top in 2001, a lot of work has gone into ensuring it remained New Zealand’s leading ice cream company. Tip Top has always listened to consumers and cared about their changing tastes, as well as their long-time favourites. An average of 340 serves of Tip Top are enjoyed every minute of every day. This came through in both the number and quality of bids we received. It’s a fantastic brand and as a result, we’ve secured a good price for our farmers and unit holders.”
Under the terms of the NZD380m deal, Fonterra wil retain ownership of a second brand, Kapiti, under which the company also markets cheese. Fonterra will licence the brand for use with ice-cream products to Froneri.
Nestlé and PAI Partners’-owned R&R Ice Cream set up Froneri in 2016. Froneri combined Nestle’s and R&R’s ice cream operations in Europe, the Middle East, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, the Philippines and South Africa.
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