Kraft Heinz Co has agreed to sell its Canadian natural cheese business to Parmalat SpA in a C$1.62 billion ($1.23 billion) deal that will help Kraft trim its debt and extend the North American footprint of Parmalat owner Lactalis, Reuters says.
Parmalat’s acquisition in Canada marks a further addition to the North American footprint of France’s Lactalis, the world’s largest dairy firm that controls nearly 90 percent of Parmalat.
Parmalat announces that, on May 1, 2017, its LAG Holding Inc. subsidiary acquired two companies operating in the dairy sector in the United States of America.
With this transaction, the Parmalat Group acquires an important business active in the ethnic specialties segment in the United States, increasing its current portfolio of gourmet cheeses and entering the yogurt market.
Parmalat has reached an agreement aimed at composing amicably the claw back action filed in 2005 against Tetra Pak.
Tetra Pak has committed to pay to Parmalat, with no admission of liability, an amount of 16 million euro, in full and final settlement.
Lactalis is launching a buyout offer for shares in Italian group Parmalat it does not already own, with the aim to delist the company from the Milan stock exchange.
Lactalis for years denied speculation that it planned to delist Parmalat, which was relaunched in 2005 after going bankrupt following a financial scandal two years earlier, to have free rein in running the group.
Parmalat, the Italy-based dairy group, needs to elect a new board after three of the directors nominated by majority shareholder Lactalis quit their positions. Antonio Sala handed in his resignation at a board meeting on 10 March. Parmalat said Sala had decided to step down ”due to the continuous recurrence of contrasts” on the board.
The resigning Director stated that, even though Parmalat once again reported increased results and demonstrated a propensity to tackle challenging industrial demands, he felt the need to hand in his resignation due to the continuous recurrence of contrasts within the Board of Directors. In his opinion, these contrasts do not facilitate the Board’s activities in the strategic and management areas in which the Group is most committed, given the complex situations in the countries and markets in which it operates.
Two other directors nominated to the board by Lactalis – which owns over 80% of Parmalat – agreed with Sala, the Parmalat statement read. Yvon Guérin and Patrice Gassenbach also resigned.
Parmalat S.p.A. is controlled by the Lactalis Group since July 15, 2011.
Agreements with Nestlé were signed whereby Parmalat acquired, within the Australian territory, the Ski brand and was granted the licence for certain confectionary brands.
The consideration paid to Nestlé is approximately 16 million euros.
The acquisition from Fonterra Brands (Australia) Pty Ltd of its yogurt and dairy dessert business in Australia, including the brands Tamar Valley, Soleil, CalciYum and Connoisseur (the last two through licence agreements) and the production facilities in Echuca, Victoria, and Tamar Valley, Tasmania, is now completed.
Parmalat and Standard and Poor’s have reached a full and final settlement of the litigation proceedings brought by Parmalat have also resolved any resulting or related disputes.
The litigation proceedings, commenced in 2005 by the Extraordinary Commissioner of Parmalat before the Court of Milan seeking damages in excess of 4 billion Euros, concerned the ratings issued by Standard & Poor’s in the period before the insolvency of the former Parmalat Group. The settlement provides a 14.5 million Euros payment by Standard & Poor’s in favor of Parmalat and includes the parties’ agreement that neither the settlement nor Standard & Poor’s payment can be construed as an admission of liability by Standard & Poor’s.