French dairy and water giant Danone has acquired American WhiteWave Foods, which also owns Belgian soy specialist Alpro, for more than 11 billion euro, debts included.
Largest acquisition since 2007
The deal, worth 12.5 billion dollars (11.3 billion euro), is Danone’s largest acquisition since 2007, when it acquired Dutch Numico for 12.3 billion euro. The multinational instantly doubles its turnover in the United States thanks to WhiteWave Foods.
WhiteWave has a 3.5 billion euro turnover and manufacturers “dairy alternatives” like almond and soy milk. It bought Belgian Alpro in 2009, which was then owned by Vandemoortele. In 2012, American food giant Dean Foods went public with WhiteWave. Its board now unanimously backs the bid, while Danone will create debt to finance the deal. If everything goes according to plan, the deal should be finalized by the end of the year.
