USA: Chinese company wants Stonyfield Farm

The Post reports that  China’s largest dairy is in talks to buy America’s No. 1 organic yogurt company, Stonyfield Farm – a company with a strong reputation for sourcing milk in the north-east and making quality products.

Yili Industrial Group Co. has bid around $850 million to buy the Danone-owned Stonyfield and is now considered a favorite in the auction. The bid is higher than expected for a yogurt-maker with $50 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and revenue of $370 million from sales in 2016.

Yili Industrial announced in late April that it was scrapping a plan to buy a nearly 40 percent stake in China-based Shengmu Organic Milk because Beijing regulators would not approve the investment.

Besides Yili Industrial Group, Dean Foods is also still in the auction to buy Stonyfield. This marks a reversal for Dean Foods, which in 2013 spun off its WhiteWave business and now wants to return to the branded organic milk space.

Danone, that already owns organic yogurt brand Wallaby, is selling Stonyfield as part of an agreement reached with the US Department of Justice for winning approval to buy soy-milk maker WhiteWave for $10 billion.