29 August - Danone has moved to dampen speculation that it is about to sell its New Zealand-based drinks subsidiary Frucor.
Sources in New Zealand claimed Groupe Danone had appointed JP Morgan to advise it on the sale of Frucor Beverages Group Ltd that it bought for US$150 million six years ago.
However, the French giant issued a statement saying its review was still ongoing and that no conclusions could yet be made regarding its outcome.
“Over the last six years, Frucor has played an instrumental role in the development of Danone’s strategy for beverages”, said the Danone statement.
“In light of the Group’s recent refocus on purity and naturality within its Waters division, Danone is conducting a thorough review of all potential long-term strategic options for Frucor to ensure ongoing value creation for all its stakeholders.
“The review process is still in an exploratory stage and no conclusions can be drawn yet. Conclusion of this process will be communicated in due time.”
However Danone did not mention further speculation that it plans to off-load energy drink V to Coca-Cola Amatil, while selling other brands such as Just Juice to other parties.
Lucrative drinks brand V is thought to have captured a 50%-share of the Australian market and 60% in New Zealand, valued at over US$550 million.