The Specialty Cheese Business will enable Saputo’s Dairy Division (Australia) to further diversify its product offering, adding to and complementing its current activities.
Saputo has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the specialty cheese business of Lion-Dairy & Drinks Pty Ltd. The Specialty Cheese Business is conducted at two manufacturing facilities located in Burnie and King Island, Tasmania (Australia) and employs approximately 400 people.
The purchase price of A$280.0 million (approximately CDN$265.0 million), on a cash-free and debt-free basis, will be paid in cash at closing from cash on hand and available credit facilities.
The Specialty Cheese Business produces, markets and distributes a variety of specialty cheeses under a wide portfolio of Australian brands, including South Cape, Tasmanian Heritage, Mersey Valley, and King Island Dairy. For the twelve-month period ended on December 31, 2018, the Specialty Cheese Business generated revenues of approximately A$192 million (CDN$182 million).
The Specialty Cheese Business will enable Saputo’s Dairy Division (Australia) to further diversify its product offering, adding to and complementing its current activities.
The transaction is subject to foreign investment approval and clearance by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and is expected to close in the second half of the calendar year 2019.
Saputo produces, markets, and distributes a wide array of dairy products of the utmost quality, including cheese, fluid milk, extended shelf-life milk and cream products, cultured products and dairy ingredients. Saputo is one of the top ten dairy processors in the world, the largest cheese manufacturer and the leading fluid milk and cream processor in Canada, the top dairy processor in Australia and the second largest in Argentina. In the USA, Saputo ranks among the top three cheese producers and is one of the largest producers of extended shelf-life and cultured dairy products. In the United Kingdom, Saputo is the largest branded manufacturer of cheese and a top manufacturer of dairy spreads.