FDBusiness.com

Danone has completed its acquisition of WhiteWave, a global leader in organic foods, for a total enterprise value of approximately $12.5 billion. Danone and WhiteWave will now combine their activities in North America to operate as a strategic business unit, named ‘DanoneWave’.

The combination will include Danone Dairy’s and WhiteWave’s current North American businesses under the leadership of Lorna Davis, who has been appointed chief executive of the combined entity. Alpro will join forces with Danone Dairy as a key pillar of its new plant-based category, managed by Gustavo Valle, with the aim to expand and grow the plant-based category around the world.

Emmanuel Faber, chief executive of Danone, comments: “Danone and WhiteWave are a perfect match to build a global leader leveraging consumer trends and expectations for healthier and more sustainable eating and drinking choices. With leading positions in some of the fastest growing, health-focused categories, this combination will drive our Alimentation Revolution, our business performance, and will accelerate our 2020 growth journey. I am convinced that the combined experience and capabilities of our new management team and the extensive preparation work done by the integration team since July will capture the great business opportunities ahead and fully deliver our synergy plan.”

Danone operates four business lines: Fresh Dairy Products, Early Life Nutrition, Waters and Medical Nutrition. Present in over 130 markets, Danone generated sales of approximately €22 billion in 2016. Danone’s brand portfolio includes both international brands (Activia, Actimel, Danette, Danonino, Danio, evian, Volvic, Nutrilon/Aptamil, Nutricia) and local brands (Oikos, Prostokvashino, Aqua, Bonafont, Mizone, Blédina, Cow & Gate).