Press release - July 3 rd , 2017
Danone announces sale of Stonyfield to Lactalis for $875 million
Paris, France - July 3 rd , 2017 - Danone has entered into a binding agreement with Lactalis to sell Stonyfield, one of its U.S. dairy subsidiaries, for a purchase price of $875 million, representing 20 times its EBITDA in 2016.
Stonyfield generated approximately $370 million in turnover in 2016.
The divestiture is part of the agreement reached on March 31 st , 2017 with the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") in connection with Danone's recently closed acquisition of WhiteWave.
The closing of the divestiture is subject to customary conditions, including final approval by the DOJ, and is expected in the third quarter of this year.
About Danone ( www.danone.com ) Dedicated to bringing health through food to as many people as possible, Danone is a leading global food company built on four business lines: Essential Dairy and Plant-Based Products, Early Life Nutrition, Waters and Medical Nutrition. Through its mission and dual commitment to business success and social progress, the company aims to build a healthier future, thanks to better health, better lives and a better world, for all its stakeholders-its more than 100,000 employees, consumers, customers, suppliers, shareholders and all the communities with which it engages. With products being present in over 130 markets, Danone generated sales of approximately €22 billion in 2016. Danone's brand portfolio includes both international brands (Activia, Actimel, Alpro, Danette, Danonino, Danio, evian, Volvic, Nutrilon/Aptamil, Nutricia) and local brands (Aqua, Blédina, Cow & Gate, Bonafont, Horizon Organic, Mizone, Oikos, Prostokvashino, Silk, Vega). Listed on Euronext Paris and present on the OTCQX market via an ADR (American Depositary Receipt) program, Danone is a component stock of leading social responsibility indexes including the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, Vigeo, the Ethibel Sustainability Index, MSCI Global Sustainability, MSCI Global SRI Indexes and the FTSE4Good Index.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Danone. In some cases, you can identify these forward-looking statements by forward-looking words, such as "estimate," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "plan," "intend," "believe," "forecast," "foresee," "likely," "may," "should," "goal," "target," "might," "will," "could," "predict," "continue," "convinced," and "confident," the negative or plural of these words and other comparable terminology. Forward looking statements in this document include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected timing of the completion of the sale of Stonyfield. Although Danone believes its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. For a detailed description of these risks and uncertainties, please refer to the "Risk Factor" section of Danone's Registration Document (the current version of which is available on www.danone.com).
Subject to regulatory requirements, Danone does not undertake to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements. This document does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy Danone shares.
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