China Mengniu Dairy is on a mission to clean up its safety record after a series of food scandals. So when a chance came along to raise its stake in a key milk supplier, it wasn’t going to say no.
Mengniu has offered to buy another 16.7% stake in China Modern Dairy from private equity firm KKR for about $242 million, triggering a wider offer to all shareholders that values the entire group at around $1.6 billion.
Modern Dairy is China’s the largest dairy farming company in terms of herd size as well as the largest raw milk producer in China. The company, which is headquartered...