USA: Danone acquires White Wave Foods for $12.5 billion

USA: Danone acquires White Wave Foods for $12.5 billion

Danone, the France-based dairy and drinks multinational, has announced that it has agreed to buy US natural and health foods manufacturer White Wave Foods in a deal worth approximately $12.5 billion, including debt and certain other liabilities.

White Wave Foods, which generated $4 billion in sales in 2015, has a large portfolio of brands across North America & Europe, with areas of focus including premium organic dairy, non-dairy yoghurt, fresh foods and coffee creamers. The company owns brands including So Delicious, Vega, Alpro, Provamel, Horizon Organic and Wallaby Organic.

Commenting on the move, Danone CEO Emmanuel Faber said: “At Danone, we constantly seek to align our vision of the world, our mission and our businesses: we believe we have a special responsibility, as expressed in our Manifesto, to help and support people in adopting healthier and more sustainable eating and drinking practices and constantly evolve our portfolio of brands and products to achieve this objective. To that extent, we found in WhiteWave the perfect alliance as we both believe in a healthier future and are conscious of our power to lead society forward”.

“This unique combination positions us better to address tomorrow’s consumer trends and represents a great opportunity to step change the ambition of our plan for an Alimentation revolution and to accelerate our path towards strong sustainable and profitable growth by 2020”, he added. “It will allow us to enhance Danone’s growth profile and reinforce our resilience through a broader platform in North America. We are convinced that combining with WhiteWave will create significant value for all of our stakeholders”.

The transaction, which is expected to double the size of Danone's US business, is subject to approval by White Wave shareholders and other regulatory approvals.

Source: Danone