Australian Bega Cheese buys Lion Dairy from Kirin

by



[ad_1]

Make (KNBWY) is selling Lion Dairy to Australian company Bega Cheese for A $ 560 million ($ 412 million), the companies said Thursday.

As part of the deal, Bega acquires Lion Dairy – an Australian yogurt, milk and juice company that makes well-known brands such as Yoplait, Dairy Farmers and Big M – in an all-cash deal that is expected to conclude early next year.

The deal comes after Kirin was forced to cancel a plan to sell Lion to Chinese dairy Mengniu in August. The proposed A $ 600 million ($ 441 million) sale was canceled after the companies said regulatory approval was “unlikely” to materialize.

The deal went south as relations between Australia and China deteriorated and spilled over into trade.

In April, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison angered Beijing by calling for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, lucrative Australian exports to China, including wine, beef and barley, have faced hurdles from China – including high tariffs, anti-subsidy investigations and lengthy customs clearance times.

Tensions between the two countries show no sign of easing.

In September, the last two reporters for Australian news agencies in China had to be evacuated after being aggressively questioned by authorities on a national security matter. And earlier this month, China said Australia was to blame for the “sharp slowdown” in relations, with a Foreign Office spokesperson saying that all responsibility lies with “some people in Australia (who ) tend to view China’s development as a threat “.

Kirin avoided the geopolitical headaches this time around. In a statement announcing the deal, the Japanese company said it did not need approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board.

The purchase of Lion will help solidify Australia’s fractured dairy industry and fulfill “our ambition to build a truly great Australian food business,” Barry Irvin, executive chairman of Bega Cheese, said in a statement.

– Ben Westcott contributed to this report.

[ad_2]

Source link