Dairy giant Fonterra says it has bought the final 42 per cent of Chilean dairy company Soprole for US$201.9 million.
It already owns 58.85 per cent of the company, which it says has "the second-most recognised corporate brand in Chile after Coca-Cola."
Fonterra bought the Soprole stakefrom Fundacion Isabel Aninat, a charitable foundation that needed final approval for the deal from the Vatican.
Fonterra's chief executive Andrew Ferrier said Soprole had been a strong performer for Fonterra over the years. By increasing its ownership, Fonterra would be able to build on it and would now look at ways to grow it even further.
"We're very pleased with the way Soprole is performing. More than 40 per cent of the company's sales have been from products introduced in the last three years. We want to continue that innovation drive and create new opportunities in the rapidly expanding South American dairy markets."
Soprole's latest financial results revealed a 160 per cent profit jump for the 2007 calendar year, with a record 23.8 billion Chilean pesos, or NZ$66.3 million. Soprole has, on average, returned around NZ$25 million a year to Fonterra shareholders over the past few years.
Fonterra's interest in Soprole was acquired by the New Zealand Dairy Board in 1986.
It will now own 99.4 per cent of the company, Chile's leading consumer dairy product business with a one-third share of the domestic consumer dairy market.
"Soprole is an example of Fonterra's strategies of leveraging its cow-to-consumer expertise to build profitable businesses, and also securing new sources of fresh milk around the world," said Ferrier.
