France: Danone acquires a 40% interest in Brookside

Danone has announced an agreement with Brookside Dairy Ltd., the leading East African dairy products company, to acquire a 40% interest in Brookside’s holding company.

Brookside was established in Kenya in 1993 and runs a distribution platform providing daily access to over 200,000 outlets. The company manages the largest milk collection network in East Africa, with 140,000 farmers in the region, and has over 3,000 employees covering the whole of East Africa.

Brookside has a range of products from fresh and UHT milk to powdered milk, yogurts, fermented milk, ghee and butter. The company’s revenues in 2013 were around €130 million ($176 million).

By uniting Danone’s international expertise in Fresh Dairy Products with Brookside’s regional expertise and robust supply chain, the partnership will enable Brookside’s growth acceleration by expanding its product portfolio and strengthening its geographical presence in key markets in the East African region, including Uganda and Tanzania, the two companies said in a statement.

The move will also significantly increase Danone’s presence in the African continent, the statement concluded.

Source: EIN