Fonterra, a New Zealand dairy giant, has confirmed that it is considering selling its ice cream brand Tip Top, while it remains unclear whether its stake in Beingmate, a Chinese food company, will be withdrawn.
In 2015, Beingmate acquired 51% of Fonterra's Darun plant in Victoria, Australia, for A$82 million, while Fonterra completed its bid for Beingmate at 18 yuan per share (12% higher than the market price), costing 3.464 billion yuan, making it the second largest shareholder of Beingmate, with 18.8% of its shares.
The Beingmate crisis broke out during 2015-2017, and the performance declined continuously, so did the stock price. During this period, there have been rumors of the breakdown of the relationship between Beingmate and Fonterra. John Wilson, chairman of Fonterra at that time, once said it was unacceptable that Beingmate continued to perform below expectations.
At present, Fonterra and Beingmate co-own the Darren plant in Virginia. It is believed that Fonterra plans to have the Darren plant after breaking up with Beimei. Darren Factory is one of the few factories in Australia with formula powder production capacity. It is an important layout for Fonterra.
On November 27 this year, ST Beingmate (002570.SZ) issued a reminder announcement that the company's management is discussing strategic cooperation and investors with the introduction of state-owned backgrounds.
On the evening of December 3, Beingmate issued two heavy announcements in succession. The controlling shareholder of Beingmate Group intended to transfer part of its Beingmate shares to Great Wall Guorong or its affiliates, which would become an important shareholder of Beingmate shares of more than 5%. At the same time, Beingmate intended to transfer 51% of its joint venture interest in Darren Factory to Fonterra SPV or its designated party and signed a new product procurement agreement with Darren Factory.
Song Liang, a dairy expert, believes that under the current low price of more than 5 yuan, the premium that Beingmate can offer can not be too high, and Fonterra's "withdrawal from losing money is also possible".
Fonterra told that Fonterra had not announced its withdrawal from Beingmate and that the company was still reviewing all its investments and assets. "This work is proceeding steadily."
