Yili becomes largest shareholder of Ausnutria Dairy

Chinese dairy giant Yili Group has taken a stake in goat milk formula company Ausnutria Dairy, becoming its largest shareholder. 

Yili will partner with Ausnutria Dairy through its subsidiary, Hong Kong Jingang Trade Holding Co (Jingang), to expand its growth into the infant formula and nutrition sectors. 

Jingang will acquire a total of “531 million shares held by previous shareholders at a price of HK$10.06 per share, which represents approximately 30.89% of the total number of issued shares of Ausnutria”. In addition, a company statement said that: “Ausnutria will issue 90 million new shares to Jingang at a price of HK$10.06 per share”.

The new partnership will strengthen Yili’s position within the milk formula space and help the company to successfully enter the nutrition products market. The two companies plan to complement each other in terms of material purchasing, marketing models, locational advantages, and research & development.

This deal marks the largest M&A deal for China’s dairy industry in recent years.