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Denmark’s Arla enters contest for Murray Goulburn

Danish dairy giant Arla Foods is understood to be wading into the contest for Murray Goulburn as its adviser Deutsche Bank is expected to receive first-round bids for Australia’s largest dairy co-operative.
Apparently, the bidders for Murray Goulburn are expected to come from far and wide for the first round of the contest, with most thought to be expressing interest for only parts of the operation.
Consortiums are likely to be pulled together for the second round of the contest — either by the interested parties themselves or by Deutsche, sources say.
The thinking is that a sale of Murray Goulburn needs to happen sooner rather than later for Deutsche for some are betting more farmers are set to abandon the co-op, triggering a further fall in its milk volumes.
It could mean that a divestment of the co-op is finalised by the end of the year.
As well as Burra Foods’ major shareholder, Inner Mongolia Fuyang Farming, it is believed two other state-owned Chinese parties are in the competition, with one of them understood to be China Resources.
Saputo is interested in some of the regional assets, as is Bega, sources have said, and they may work with the Chinese groups that are eager participants, given that they will be unlikely to secure Foreign Investment Review Board approval to buy the business by themselves.
Even Parmalat, a2, Lion and Fonterra are known to be bidding, along with Goodman Fielder, advised by UBS.
Arla is behind well-known brands such as Lurpak butter, Arla Dofino, Anchor butter and Castello cheese.
The international co-operative is based in Denmark and is the largest producer of dairy products in Scandinavia. It was formed as the result of a merger between dairy co-op Arla and Danish dairy company MD Foods.
Globally, it is the fourth-largest dairy company in terms of milk volume and the seventh for turnover.
It could be a good owner for Murray Goulburn, which produces a full range of dairy foods, including drinking milk, milk powder, cheese, butter and dairy beverages, as well as a range of ingredients and nutritional products such as infant formula.
It also owns manufacturing and processing facilities in Australia and China and supplies the retail and food service industries globally with its Devondale, Liddells and Murray Goulburn ingredients brands.
The thinking is Murray Goulburn needs a well-regarded industry player to take the reins to prevent it from losing more milk supply.
A challenge for the bankers working on the transaction will be to gain support from all of the farmers that control the co-op.
Under the Murray Goulburn constitution, they need to secure 90 per cent of their support.