South African dairy firm Clover Industries is to buy the yoghurt and milk operations of local rival Dairybelle’s for ZAR155m (US$14.9m).
The acquisition includes DairyBelle’s yoghurt and UHT milk manufacturing, marketing and distribution businesses.
Johann Vorster, Clover CEO, said the deal would see the company return to the “highly attractive and profitable” yoghurt sector after the end of its licence deal with Danone, which is scheduled to finish later this year.
He added: “Combining these assets with our sales and distribution capabilities will also enable us to develop the current DairyBelle brands and provide capacity to launch our own Clover branded products in this market.”
Pedro Viudez, DairyBelle’s CEO, said the deal was “a step forward” for the company, allowing it to focus on its “core business” of cheese and niche butter products.
“It was a sentimental decision to dispose of the yoghurt business, but this transaction will refocus our energies and resources in our core competence of cheese making.”
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By GlobalDataThe transaction is subject to competition authority approval and is expected to be complete by the end of July.
Vorster added Clover would continue to pursue “synergistic acquisitions and joint ventures that will sustain long term momentum whilst we continue to actively invest in new products and technologies”.