anone has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority interest in the Happy Family brand of organic baby food products. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, and once the transaction is complete Danone will own 90% of the company.With a 4% share of the U.S. baby food market, the New York-based Happy Family is the fourth largest baby food brand in the country. Annual sales are approximately $60 million. The company offers a full line of products for babies, toddlers and children.
“We are delighted with this acquisition in an innovative and fast-moving segment of the baby food market,” said Felix Martin Garcia, executive vice-president of the Danone Baby Nutrition division. “Building on a business model that has proven its effectiveness, we plan to step up the development of Happy Family and its brands.”
Shazi Visram, chief executive officer of Happy Family, said, “By joining Danone, Happy Family will benefit from the expertise of a major international group, in particular for distribution and its renowned R.&D. capabilities. We are thrilled, as this agreement will allow us to further our goal of providing organic nutrition to more children, both by making our products more available and by continuing to provide new innovations to the baby and toddler category.”
During fiscal 2012, Danone’s Baby Nutrition business unit had sales of €4,257 million ($5,525 million). The company’s largest segment of the baby nutrition market is in China, where it owns the Dumex brand of products.
