Announcement • Apr 01
Groupe Lactalis S.A. completed the acquisition of Consumer, Dairy Ingredients and Food Service Businesses from Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited (NZSE:FCG).
Groupe Lactalis S.A. proposed to acquire Consumer, Dairy Ingredients and Food Service Businesses from Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited (NZSE:FCG) for NZD 4.2 billion on May 2, 2025. Groupe Lactalis S.A. agreed to acquire Consumer, Dairy Ingredients and Food Service Businesses from Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited on August 22, 2025. The sale comprises Fonterra’s global Consumer business (excluding Greater China) and Consumer brands; the integrated Foodservice and Ingredients businesses in Oceania and Sri Lanka; and the Middle East and Africa Foodservice business. As part of the sale agreement, Fonterra will continue to supply milk and other products to the divested businesses, meaning New Zealand farmers’ milk will still be found in iconic dairy brands including Anchor and Mainland. As of August 25, 2025, Bega Group has agreed to sell Fonterra’s consumer and associated businesses to Lactalis, Bega Group has withdrawn its application to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in relation to Bega Group’s intended acquisition of this business.
The transaction is subject to antitrust regulations, approval by Fonterra shareholders, separating the businesses being sold from Fonterra, and receipt of certain final regulatory approvals. As of July 10, 2025, the transaction has been approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The transaction is expected to complete in the first half of the 2026 calendar year. As of October 30, 2025, farmer shareholders have approved the transaction. As of February 19, 2026, Fonterra expects the transaction to be complete in the first quarter of the 2026 calendar year, subject to separation of the businesses from Fonterra and provided the remaining regulatory approvals are received within the expected timeframes. As of March 6, 2026, all required regulatory approvals have been received and the deal has become now become unconditional. The expected completion of the transaction is in the end of March 2026.
Jarden Securities Limited, Craigs Investment Partners Limited, Investment Banking Arm and J.P. Morgan Limited acted as financial advisor and Russell McVeagh and Herbert Smith Freehills LLP acted as financial advisor to Fonterra. James Gibson, Alex Bond, Laura Littlewood, Graham Murray, Glenn Shewan, Liz Coats, Natasha Garvan, and Jane Holland of Bell Gully acted as legal advisor to Groupe Lactalis S.A. Freshfields LLP (France) acted as a legal advisor to Groupe Lactalis S.A. The team of the Freshfields team was led by Olivier Rogivue, Pervez Akhtar, Douglas Bryden, Charlotte Colin-Dubuisson, Vincent Daniel-Mayeur, Eric Johnson, Richard Lister, Tony Gregory, Khaled Al-Sudairi and Jérôme Philippe. Allens acted as legal advisor to Groupe Lactalis S.A. The Allens team consists of Tom Story, Adrian Amer, Fiona Crosbie, Felicity McMahon, Andrew Wong, Jessica Mottau, Tim Chislett, Emily Johnstone, Joel Barrett, Veronica Siow, Tarsha Gavin, Jo Folan, Grace Collier, Catherine Thomas, Nicole Apap, Lachlan Pembroke, Sneha Mahesh, Max Stella, Sally Eller, Drew Gillespie, Sabreen Hussain, Scarlett Stevens, Renee Preketes-Tardiani, Eloise Cook, Olivia Mueller and Madeleine Andreopoulos.
Groupe Lactalis S.A. completed the acquisition of Consumer, Dairy Ingredients and Food Service Businesses from Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited (NZSE:FCG) on March 31, 2026. As per the transaction, Fonterra will return NZD 3.2 billion of divestment proceeds to farmer shareholders and unit holders via a NZD 2 per share capital return.
