News
Bel completes its sale to Lactalis of a business comprising Royal Bel Leerdammer NL, Bel Italia, Bel Deutschland, Leerdammer and all related rights, plus Bel Shostka Ukraine. This transaction also includes an agreement for Lactalis to sell Bel group products in Germany, Italy and Ukraine.
Lactalis, dairy products world no. 1, acquires Leerdammer, one of Europe’s most iconic cheese brands. The transaction is a perfect fit for Lactalis’ strategic priorities, which focus on top-quality product development. The company aims to boost Leerdammer’s international growth and continue developing the brand.
Bel, a market leading cheese brand owner and major player in healthy snacking, now reaffirms its independent family business model to ramp up rollout of its strategy with a view to boosting growth of its three complementary market segments – dairy, fruits and plant-based.
Bel Group and Lactalis Group today announced the completion of the sale to Lactalis of a business comprising Royal Bel Leerdammer NL, Bel Italia, Bel Deutschland, the Leerdammer brand and all related rights, plus Bel Shostka Ukraine. These have all been transferred to Lactalis by Sicopa, a wholly-owned Bel subsidiary, in return for 1,591,472 Bel shares (23.16% equity stake) held by Lactalis. All the transaction’s pre-conditions have been met, including a European Commission unconditional merger approval received on 26 August 2021[1].
Bel Group Chairman and CEO Antoine Fievet said: “I am delighted about the success of this transaction. For a start, it opens new doors for both the Shostka and Leerdammer brands and I want to thank all their staff and wish them all the best for the future because they have built the brands’ success over the last 20 years. This is a new step for us, underpinning our independent family business model, a key factor in our success from our company’s very beginnings. Now we can put all our weight behind rolling out our strategy with a well-balanced dairy, fruit and plant-based offering, in line with our corporate mission to champion healthier and responsible food for all.”
Lactalis Group Chairman Emmanuel Besnier confirmed: “By acquiring Leerdammer and Shostka, we have now completed our offering with a range of food brands that consumers know and love. We want to turn the European Leerdammer brand into a global one by tapping into our worldwide reach. We are delighted to welcome new staff backed by their cheese-making pedigree into our Group.”