Danone, the French yoghurt maker, has doubled its stake in China Mengniu Dairy from 4% to 9.9% for HK$5.1 billion $657 million, in a rare example of a foreign company raising its stake in a Chinese state-backed company.
The increase which will make Danone the second largest shareholder after state-backed Cofco is interesting because most deals involving Chinese companies have been outbound.
“It is rare to see foreigners have stakes or board seats in state-owned enterprises,” said one source familiar with the deal.
That said, last year Germany's Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes Benz bought a 12% stake in BAIC...
¬ Haymarket Media Limited. All rights reserved.
