Bright Dairy, a China-based dairy company, will be investing in New Zealand dairy company Synlait Milk.
Bright Dairy will own 51 percent of a new company, which will specialize in making infant and whole milk powder for Chinese consumers. Synlait will continue to own and operate its Synlait farms in Canterbury through a separate company.
Bright Dairy is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and says it “holds the leading position in value-added consumer dairy products in China and is China’s third largest dairy company by volume.”
The company, a subsidiary of Bright Food Ltd, has a market capitalisation of approximately NZ$1.7 billion and reported revenues of approximately NZ$1.63 billion for the 2009 calendar year.
Synlait Milk’s chief executive John Penno said work had already begun building a second large scale milk powder processing plant capable of producing high specification milk powders alongside the company’s existing facility at Dunsandel near Christchurch. This plant will be commissioned in time for the 2011/12 season, more than doubling the capacity of the site.
Source: NZ HERALD