Ann: WHA to Acquire Majority Stake in B&P, page-31

Wattle Health buys Vic canning operation

By Australian Associated Press03:06 GMT 11 Feb

2019, updated 03:06 GMT 11 Feb 2019



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Infant formula maker Wattle Health Australia (WHA) has agreed to buy a controlling stake in a Victoria blending and canning operation for $46 million.

WHA is buying the 46 per cent stake in Blend & Pack, which specialises in blending and canning dairy nutrition and infant formula, from GL Food, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Mason Holdings.

WHA already owns a small stake in Blend & Pack and says the new purchase will take its total shareholding to 51 per cent.

Blend & Pack says its facility in the southeast Melbourne suburb of Hallam is highly mechanised and produces dried dairy products for many major domestic and international dairy companies.

The independent company is accredited in China, which brings WHA a step closer to selling its products there, WHA executive chairman Lazarus Karasavvidis said on Monday.



"With this acquisition WHA becomes a fully vertically integrated Australian organic dairy company with influence, control and bricks and mortar investments through the entire value chain - from the farm gate to the consumer," Mr Karasavvidis said in a statement.

The acquisition will be funded through a private debt placement managed by international capital advisory firm Exotix Capital.

Exotix chief executive Duncan Wales said the company would have significant appeal to North American private placement debt investors, given its exposure to high-growth Asian markets.

Under the agreement, Abbotsford-based WHA also has the right to buy Mason Holding's remaining 29 per cent interest in Blend & Pack, at a base price of $30.1 million plus option fees.

WHA shares were up 1.51 per cent, or 1.5 cents, to $1.01, at 1358 AEDT on Monday.