Danone sells Stonyfield for WhiteWave

Danone, which has been negotiating to buy American food and beverage company WhiteWave Foods, says that the companies have reached a major step in completing the planned merger. The French dairy giant will sell its US Stonyfield yogurt business after the WhiteWave buy, in an agreement in principle with the antitrust division of the US Department of Justice.

This move is expected to allow closing to occur and will allow the company to proceed at the soonest with the integration and reap the full benefits of the announced synergies, it says.

Stonyfield generated approximately $370 million (€346.4m) in turnover in 2016.

Emmanuel Faber, chief executive officer of Danone, says, “As part of the agreement in principle with the DOJ, we made the strategic decision to divest Stonyfield as it allows us to take a major step towards completing the WhiteWave transaction expeditiously. This is a good outcome as it addresses the DOJ’s concerns and enables Danone to shortly begin to capture the benefits of the combination, and the value creation announced last July.”