dairy
Theo Müller wants to take over Landliebe and three plants
With the acquisition, Theo Müller wants to strengthen the core business in the home market. Photo: Stefan Puchner/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Big purchase in Germany: The private company Theo Müller buys brands like Landliebe and Südmilch. There are also three plants in Germany.
Dairy giant Theo Müller wants to take over Landliebe and other brands as well as three milk processing plants in Germany from competitor FrieslandCampina.
The Dutch dairy cooperative announced an agreement with the Theo Müller group to sell a large part of its German consumer business. In Germany, FrieslandCampina will focus primarily on selling international brands such as Chocomel, Frico and Holland Master.
«Very suitable addition to our portfolio»
“We are convinced that this acquisition is a very suitable addition to our successful Mopro portfolio on the German market and will make a positive contribution to the growth of the Theo Müller Group,” said Stefan Müller, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Theo Müller Group. FrieslandCampina explained that the profitability of activities in Germany has improved in recent years. The new owner can expand this business through synergy benefits.
In detail, the sale of the brands Landliebe, Tuffi, Südmilch, Puddis, Mondelice as well as the production sites, warehouses and logistics in Heilbronn, Schefflenz (both Baden-Württemberg) and Cologne are planned. FrieslandCampina Germany has around 1,000 employees who have now been informed. According to information from the German Press Agency, around 730 are affected by the sale to Theo Müller.
The deal isn’t done yet
According to the information, the approval of the members’ council of the dairy cooperative, the FrieslandCampina Germany supervisory board and the Federal Cartel Office are required for the planned sale. The Members Council will make a decision next Monday. The transaction should be completed by the end of 2022 at the latest. No information was given about the purchase price.
For the milk volumes that are processed there, Müller Milch takes on the contracts with farmers who are not members of the FrieslandCampina cooperative, as stated in the press release. However, FrieslandCampina wants to continue collecting and processing the milk from its own members on the farms. Members’ milk will only continue to be delivered to the dairy in Cologne for a transitional period of just over a year, said Hans Stöcker, Chairman of the FrieslandCampina Germany Supervisory Board, to dpa.
Core business on the home market is strengthened
According to a report by the “Lebensmittel Zeitung”, the German branch of the Dutch cooperative is said to have achieved sales of 960 million euros last year. About half of them will be taken over by Theo Müller. Sales have been declining for years. The advance of the Dutch into the German dairy industry took place in the mid-1990s. According to the media report, the Theo Müller Group has an annual turnover of 7 billion euros. Their growth has long resulted primarily from their involvement in Great Britain. According to the report, the German brand business has a volume of around 1 billion euros. With the acquisition, the core business on the home market is gaining in importance again.