Battle for milk
OPINION: Fonterra may be on the verge of selling its consumer business in New Zealand, but the co-operative is not keen on giving any ground to its competitors in the country.
The farms in Shandong province were sold to Singapore-based AustAsia Investment Holdings for US$115.5 million.
Fonterra owns the farms with a joint venture partner and had a 51% stake.
Fonterra hief executive Miles Hurrell says the sale is another important milestone for the co-operative and aligns to its strategy of prioritising New Zealand milk.
"The sale of the JV farms allows us to focus even more on our farmer owners' milk and follows the sale of our two wholly owned China farming hubs earlier this year.
Fonterrs sold its two wholly owned China farming hubs in Shanxi and Hebei provinces to Inner Mongolia Youran Dairy in April for $552 million."
