The takeover of Dairy Farmers by Kirin subsidiary National Foods was officially completed on Tuesday, with the cheese joint venture between National Foods and Warrnambool Cheese and Butter (WCB) expected to begin operation early next year. Dairy Farmers Chairman Ian Langdon, who along with other directors will resign from the Dairy Farmers Board today, said the $910m acquisition of the business by National Foods stood to have a positive impact on Dairy Farmers’ shareholders as well as the... ...Read more »

The purchase of Dairy Farmers by National Foods will be implemented next week after receiving court approval today… Australian Co-operative Foods Limited (ACF), which trades as Dairy Farmers, today announced that the National Foods offer to acquire all of the shares in the Co-operative had been approved by the New South Wales Supreme Court. National Foods won shareholder approval last week for their $910 million proposal. ACF Chairman Ian Langdon said the court’s approval of the scheme... ...Read more »

Australian Co-operative Foods Limited (ACF), which trades as Dairy Farmers, and National Foods today announced that ACF members had approved the acquisition proposal by National Foods. On August 25 Dairy Farmers announced that National Foods had outbid other interested parties, with their $910 million offer. The deal involved a joint venture with Warrnambool Cheese and Butter for the cheese business of Dairy Farmers. National Foods have also since come to an arrangement to allow Fonterra to acquire... ...Read more »

Kirin Holdings, Japan’s largest brewer and owner of Australian-based National Foods, has won the battle to acquire dairy co-operative Australian Co-Operative Foods (ACF) Limited (Dairy Farmers). In conjunction with Warrnambool Cheese and Butter, National Foods outbid other interested parties, which reportedly included Saputo and Murray Goulburn. Dairy Farmers announced today that National Foods will acquire all of the shares in the Co-operative for a cash consideration of $5.65 per share,... ...Read more »

Reports of Murray Goulburn making a solo bid for Dairy Farmers early last week appear to be accurate, with the company asking for approval of a potential takeover of Dairy Farmers from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Murray Goulburn was initially planning to make a joint bid with Parmalat, but the two companies could not come to terms on an appropriate deal. Negotiations between the two officially ceased a week and a half ago. The proposal by Murray Goulburn is for 100% of Dairy... ...Read more »

Parmalat has failed to reach an appropriate agreement with their proposed joint venture partner, Murray-Goulburn, as they seek to acquire Dairy Farmers. The two companies withdrew their application for ACCC clearance on Friday, with the Italian dairy giant citing an inability to come to a suitable arrangement as the reason for the decision. “Parmalat SpA communicates that no mutually satisfactory resolution on terms and conditions has been reached and consequently Parmalat has withdrawn from... ...Read more »

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has approved the proposed bid for Dairy Farmers by National Foods and Warrnambool Cheese and Butter, but raised concerns regarding the Parmalat SpA and Murray-Goulburn joint bid. The clearance of National Foods followed their recent submission to the ACCC, which highlighted that they would be willing to licence brands and sell processing plants in order to decrease the impact a takeover would have on competition. This appeased the concerns of the... ...Read more »

The battle for ownership of Dairy Farmers is now between three contenders, according to reports. The Australian Financial Review believes that Canadian firm Saputo has entered the fray and will now compete with Parmalat and National Foods to purchase the Australian co-operative. The three companies are believed to have submitted formal bids on Friday for the company valued at up to $1b. For months, Saputo, Canada’s largest cheese maker and the world’s 15th largest dairy processor, had... ...Read more »

The ACCC’s decision on approval for Parmalat and Murray-Goulburn’s proposed bid for Dairy Farmers has been delayed until next Thursday. The findings were initially due today but, at “the request of the parties”, the announcement has been put off until next week. Just-Food reported earlier this week that Parmalat believed a decision on the battle to buy Dairy Farmers could be revealed this week, but, given the ACCC has yet to grant approval to any bidder, this appears... ...Read more »

National Foods has offered the ACCC a proposed undertaking to address any competition concerns that the ACCC may have with their proposed takeover of Dairy Farmers. National Foods, a subsidiary of the Japanese-owned Kirin Holdings, announced in April that they would combine with Warrnambool Cheese and Butter (WCB) to make a joint bid for the Australian dairy co-operative. The ACCC commenced a public, informal review into their proposal on April 17 to determine the competition implications of a takeover. National... ...Read more »