Just Food

Ausnutria Dairy takes full ownership of goat’s cheese business Amalthea

The Netherlands group has exercised a put option to acquire the remaining 50% share.

Ausnutria Dairy Corp. plans to purchase the remaining 50% share of the Netherlands-based organic goat’s cheese cooperative Amalthea.

In 2022, goat’s milk infant-formula supplier Ausnutria Dairy agreed to pay EUR18.4m (then $18.3m) for the initial 50% of Amalthea, which is based in Rijen in the south of the Netherlands.

Now a put option to acquire the rest of the business has been exercised for €22.1m, according to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Ausnutria Dairy is the Hong Kong-listed investment holding company of the co-op Ausnutria BV and primarily serves the Chinese market from manufacturing facilities in the Netherlands.

The agreement for the remaining share in Amalthea has been struck with Dairy Goat Holding (DGH). The price terms were based on a normalised EBITDA multiple of 8.5 times, equating to around €4.6m minus debt.

Ausnutria Dairy stated that the transaction is subject to relevant competition approvals and clearance by China’s commerce ministry, and will also need to be rubber stamped by the country’s reform commission.

Based in Haansberg, Amalthea owns the CleardMilk manufacturing trademark used to produce its own branded goat’s cheese, as well as cow’s cheese and private-label dairy products such as yogurt.

Ausnutria Dairy, which owns the Kabrita goat’s milk infant-nutrition brand, is headquartered in Zwolle and operates five production plants in the Netherlands. Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group (Yili), China’s largest dairy firm, took a minority interest in the business in 2021.

Last year, Westland Milk Products bought out a stake in an infant-formula joint venture the New Zealand-based dairy cooperative formed in 2016.

Ausnutria Dairy, through its subsidiary Ausnutria NZ, agreed to sell its 60% portion for NZ$31.1m ($19m at the time).

Westland Milk, owned since 2019 by Yili, became the sole proprietor of the Pure Nutrition venture in New Zealand.

Pure Nutrition was set up to produce baby milk powder, follow-up formula and nutrition products for children and adults, with Westland providing the ingredients.