Belgian business must go for Danone

French dairy giant Danone must sell its Belgian toddler milk business in order to satisfy European regulators in its bid to buy US-based WhiteWave Foods, makers of Alpro soya products, according to news reports. This is because with the buy, it would leave only Nestlé in that market. The European Commission has said that there is little overlap in other areas of the businesses. Danone has offered US$12.5 billion (€11.9bn) to buy the dairy alternative business.

In related Danone news, the French company says it will miss sales growth targets as its Activia brand and Spanish demand have underperformed. Sales increased 3.2% in the first nine months, below the 3-5% goal. But Activia has not met its performance expectations since it relaunch, the firm says. Danone reported its slowest third quarter sales growth in over 10 years back in October.