DMV Fonterra buys Domo Pharma business from FrieslandCampina

New Zealand dairy co-operative Fonterra is set to pay more than €50 million in order to expand its European joint venture selling pharmaceutical-grade lactose.

DMV Fonterra will purchase the product range of FrieslandCampina Domo-Pharma, which is the pharmaceutical lactose business and manufacturing unit of Dutch dairy group Royal FrieslandCampina.

The transaction brings together two companies with more than 100 years of experience in supplying the pharmaceutical industry. Both companies have successfully built up their own customer base, which they serve from their individual production facilities. DMV-Fonterra Excipients sources its products in Europe and New Zealand, while FrieslandCampina Domo-Pharma sources its products in Europe.

Fonterra produces about 1.3 billion kg of milksolids each season, but only some of the lactose is purified for pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals.

The transaction is set to go through in March 2010 and is worth a total of €52.5m (New Zealand 106 million).

“This transaction underlines the shared ambition of FrieslandCampina and Fonterra to further develop their excipients business through the joint venture DMV-Fonterra Excipients‚” says Frans Visser, COO at FrieslandCampina responsible for the Ingredients business group.

“After the integration, DMV-Fonterra Excipients and Domo Pharma will continue to serve their own customers in their own distinct and successful ways with their well-known product ranges. By doing so, we offer the customers consistent reliability and continuity, which are essential in the global pharmaceutical industry‚” adds Herman Ermens, CEO of DMV-Fonterra Excipients.