Fonterra and Beingmate Baby & Child announced in August they were forming a global supply chain from the farm gate directly to Chinese consumers.
Fonterra’s partial tender offer, to gain up to a 20 per cent stake in Beingmate, was submitted to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange today.
The offer will be open for 30 days, with the result expected on March 18.
If the deal is concluded and gets signed off by regulators, the companies will set up a joint venture to buy Fonterra’s Darnum plant in Australia and establish a distribution agreement to sell its Anmum brand in China.
The companies will also consider mutual investments in dairy farms in China.
Fonterra is investing $615m into the overall partnership, including the joint venture. It could not immediately confirm how much of that sum related to the tender offer itself.
Source: Stuff