Status

Under consideration

Industry

Dairy

Commenced

Acquirer(s)

  • Lactalis (BSA S.A.S.)

Target(s)

  • businesses within the Fonterra Co-operative Group

Summary

BSA S.A.S. (Lactalis) proposes to acquire the following businesses within the Fonterra Co-operative Group (Fonterra):

  • Fonterra’s consumer business globally, and
  • Fonterra’s dairy ingredients and food services businesses in Australia.

Lactalis is a global dairy group headquartered in Laval, France. In Australia, it has approximately 500 farmer-suppliers across New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. Lactalis processes raw milk into dairy products such as fresh milk, cheeses, chilled yellow spreads and yoghurts, as well as dairy ingredients such as milk powders. It supplies products to retail and food services businesses through brands such as Pauls, Vaalia and Kraft.

Fonterra is a New Zealand-based dairy co-operative which sources raw milk from around 650 Australian farmers in Victoria, Tasmania, and parts of South Australia and New South Wales. In Australia, Fonterra acquires raw milk and processes it into a range of dairy products as part of its ingredients, consumer and food service businesses. Its brands include Mainland, Western Star and Perfect Italiano, and it also holds the licence to the Bega brand for natural and processed cheddar cheese products in Australia.

Lactalis and Fonterra overlap in various parts of the dairy supply chain, including:

  • the acquisition of raw milk from dairy farmers and milk brokers, primarily in Victoria and Tasmania
  • the processing and production of dairy products (including cheese, dairy spreads, cream, custard and yoghurt) and dairy ingredients (including milk fat, whey powders, lactose and dairy powders), and
  • the supply of dairy products and dairy ingredients to retailers and food service outlets.

Market inquiries

Submissions are invited from interested parties in relation to Lactalis’ proposed acquisition of businesses within the Fonterra Group by 5pm on 16 May 2025.

Submissions should be forwarded electronically (preferably in PDF format) to mergers@accc.gov.au with the title: "Submission re: Lactalis/Fonterra".

For more details, please refer to the Market Inquiries Letter published below.

Following 16 May 2025, queries regarding the ACCC’s review may also be addressed to mergers@accc.gov.au.

Market inquiries

Document title Date
Lactalis - Fonterra - Market Inquiries Letter (PDF239.92 KB)

Timeline

Date Event

ACCC commenced informal review under the Informal Merger Review Process Guidelines.

Closing date for submissions.

Provisional date for announcement of ACCC’s findings (as outlined in the Informal Merger Review Process Guidelines, this may be a final decision or release of a Statement of Issues).

Contact email

mergers@accc.gov.au