Danone moves to buy Lifeway Foods outright
Photo credit: Lifeway Foods
Lifeway Foods, a US-based supplier of kefir and fermented probiotic products to support the microbiome, confirmed that it has received an unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Danone North America to acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Lifeway it does not already own, for US$25 per share in cash.
Danone currently owns approximately 23.4% of Lifeway’s outstanding common stock. The $283 million deal is now under advisement by the latter firm’s board and should be financed from cash reserves, papers filed by the French dairy giant say.
Lifeway kefir products are sold in the US, Mexico, South Africa, Ireland and France. Shane Grant, president and chief executive officer of Danone North America, said in a letter to Julie Smolyansky, president and CEO of Lifeway Foods, “In recognizing the solid performance of the company over the last few years, we believe Lifeway has an attractive opportunity to achieve its full potential through a combination with Danone, removing the constraints and additional resources required for a publicly listed company of Lifeway’s size. We are confident that Danone’s operations and dedicated resources would unlock significant opportunities and value for Lifeway, notably by providing further innovation, distribution and marketing support.”
