RUSSIA/USA – Dairy and juice company Wimm-Bill-Dann has broken out of Russia by issuing American depository shares on the New York stock exchange.

The company hoped to raise $137 million (156.32 million euro) in the move on Friday. This will be used for expansion.

In the run up to the action, Wimm-Bill-Dann has had to make major changes to the composition of its board and corporate structure.

Wimm-Bill-Dann was founded in 1992. It has a turnover of 570.6 million euro from its Lianozovo dairy and 13 other factories. Its products have market shares varying from 34% to 47%.

Will-Bill-Dann cashed in on the 1998 devaluation of the rouble, which made imported food in Russia expensive. The Moscow city government buys three-quarters of the company’s baby food product and has provided Wimm-Bill-Dann with 12.55 million euro in cut rate loans.

The shares proved popular as investors in the Russian market with oil dominated portfolios sought to diversify. Wimm-Bill-Dann’s name comes from the founder’s passion for tennis and the Wimbledon championship.