Lactalis fires up M&A engine with deal for Saputo’s UK business

Lactalis has entered a "definitive" statement to get the UK concern of Canadian adjacent Saputo successful the French dairy giant's 4th woody successful 2 months.

While the privately-owned institution did not uncover the acquisition terms successful a connection contiguous (14 August), Saputo tagged the transaction astatine astir £988m ($1.33bn).

The woody is expected to adjacent by the extremity of the archetypal 4th adjacent year, taxable to regulatory approval, Toronto-listed Saputo added.

Lactalis said successful its ain announcement that Saputo UK, which generated gross successful its latest fiscal twelvemonth of £800m, comes with 5 accumulation facilities, on with a big of food brands specified arsenic Cathedral City and Davidstow.

The sites are located successful Hawes (Yorkshire), Davidstow (Cornwall), Nuneaton (Warwickshire), Kirkby (Merseyside) and the Isle of Bute (Scotland), employing astir 1,300 people, Lactalis said.

Also portion of the woody are the brands Wensleydale Creamery cheeses, including the geographic root protected Yorkshire Wensleydale, on with Country Life food and the Clover and Utterly Butterly spreads.

Lactalis president Emmanuel Besnier said: "This acquisition marks a cardinal milestone successful Lactalis' improvement successful the United Kingdom. By welcoming celebrated brands and recognised expertise into the group, we are strengthening our presumption successful the UK marketplace and reaffirming our committedness to providing consumers with high-quality dairy products."

In June, Lactalis swooped for different UK dairy concern Protein Works successful what the French radical said "marks a caller step" successful its strategy.

Financial presumption of that woody were not disclosed, though Lactalis said Protein Works generates yearly gross of astir €65m ($75.6m).

More recently, Lactalis said successful July it was poised to onslaught different woody connected its location turf with Triballat, a concern that posted revenues of €365m past year.

The aforesaid month, Lactalis inked an statement for prime food assets owned by different Canadian cooperative Agropur, including the brands Oka, Monsieur Gustav and L'Extra, on with the Oka and Saint Hyacinthe accumulation facilities.

More significantly, Lactalis won the bid past twelvemonth for Fonterra, the dairy co-op successful New Zealand, for a terms tag of NZ$3.8bn (then $2.2bn).

Saputo UK supplies retail and foodservice customers, with the UK accounting for 94% of income and the remainder successful Europe, the Asia-Pacific and North America.

Carl Colizza, the radical president and CEO of Saputo, said: "Today's announcement reflects a disciplined measurement to refine our planetary footprint and sharpen our absorption connected platforms wherever Saputo competes from a presumption of strength.