Danone increases Moroccan dairy stake and restructures

French dairy giant Danone has finalised its puchase of 67% of Morocco dairy Centrale Litiere for €543 million. Having increased its share from 29.2% to above the 40% threshold, Danone is required to file a mandatory takeover bid for the company’s shares within the next few days.Danone also recently announced a cost-reduction programme due to the downturn in European markets. The project requires three major changes, the company says: a reduction of half of the management units, which will be achieved by combining teamsfrom several countries into multi-country units; the combination within subsidiaries of several management functions; and focusing each level of management on missions and projects that have a direct impact on business growth. It will involve a decrease of around 900 jobs in management and administrative areas across 26 European countries.