Fonterra completes sale of two China farms
Fonterra has completed the sale of its two wholly owned China farming hubs in Ying and Yutian. As announced in October 2020, the sale of the farms to Inner Mongolia Youran Dairy was subject to anti-trust clearance and other regulatory approvals in China. These approvals have now been received. The transaction proceeds comprise the original sale price of NZ$513 million (€308.8m) plus NZ$39 million (€23.2m) in settlement adjustments, giving cash proceeds of NZD $552 million. The two hubs milk 60,000 cows and produce around 350 million litres of milk each year.
CEO Miles Hurrell says the completion of the sale is an important milestone for Fonterra following its strategic refresh. “Fonterra has contributed to the development of the Chinese dairy industry by establishing these farms and we’re pleased to now hand ownership over to Youran for the next phase of development. The China market is fast moving and inspires us to keep innovating.
“Our China team will now continue with their focus on creating value from our New Zealand farmers’ milk through new products, applications and close partnerships with our customers. As we’ve seen from our recent fiscal year interim financial results, our China business is performing very well, underpinned by strong demand for New Zealand dairy driven by our team on the ground. With these foundations, we are well placed to continue to grow our Greater China foodservice, consumer and ingredients businesses,” Hurrell adds.
The completion of the sale of Fonterra’s 85% interest in its Hangu farm to minority shareholder Beijing Sanyuan Venture Capital as announced in October 2020, is progressing and is expected to be completed this financial year.