Fonterra Agrees $2.2 Billion Consumer Unit Sale to Lactalis (2)

Fonterra Co-operative Group has agreed to sell its global Consumer and related businesses to French dairy giant Lactalis for NZ$3.85 billion ($2.2 billion).

Lactalis is also in talks to acquire the Bega cheese licenses held by Fonterra’s Australian arm, a move that would lift the total value of the transaction to about NZ$4.2 billion, the Auckland-based company said in a statement Friday.

Fonterra has been weighing a sale of its Consumer division for more than a year as it shifts focus to producing higher-value ingredients from New Zealand milk, supplied to global companies like Nestle SA, Mars Inc. and Coca-Cola ...