Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

Wednesday 5 april 2017 BUSINESS
A24

For US nod on WhiteWave buyout, Danone will sell Stonyfield

tive, a WhiteWave rival. WhiteWave deal, first an-
The Justice Department nounced over the sum-
believed that the sale of mer.
Stonyfield Farms to an in- Danone is one of the
dependent buyer would world’s leading food
cut the ties between Da- companies, producing
none and CROPP, and several dairy brands,
maintain competition. baby foods and Evi-
The sale of Stonyfield an water. WhiteWave,
will help “ensure com- which went public in
petitive marketplaces 2012, makes Horizon
for both farmers in the brand organic dairy
northeast that sell raw products, coffee cream-
organic milk and con- ers and plant-based
sumers who purchase dairy alternatives such
fluid organic milk in as Silk brand soy and al-
stores nationwide,” the mond milk.
Justice Department said Shares of WhiteWave
Stonyfield and Dannon yogurts are stacked on a supermarket shelf, Tuesday, April 4, 2017, in New late Monday. opened near all-time
York. Danone will sell its Stonyfield Farms business to gain approval from the U.S. for a $12.5 billion Danone plans to sell highs Tuesday on the
buyout of Denver’s WhiteWave Foods, doubling the size of the French company’s business in North Stonyfield in the months New York Stock Ex-
America.
(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) after the closure of the change.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Da- China, Cherry Coke, and the Oracle of Omaha
none will sell its Stonyfield
Farms business to gain
approval from the U.S. JOSH FUNK time last month. And on
for a $12.5 billion buyout AP Business Writer limited-edition cans sitting
of Denver’s WhiteWave OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Co- on store shelves today in
Foods, doubling the ca-Cola is featuring a dif- China is the beaming face
size of the French com- ferent kind of celebrity on of the Oracle of Omaha.
pany’s business in North its cans in China: Warren Business leaders in China
America. Buffett. tend to have an outsized
The Justice Department While Buffett is admired following, in some cases
said it would approve and thought of as a folksy greater than that of sports
straight talker in the U.S. stars, according to Shaun
the deal if Stonyfield where Coke is based, em- Rein, founder of the China
were sold, citing the po- ploying an 86-year-old bil- Market Research Group.
tential for reduced com- lionaire to sell sodas in the And like in the U.S., Buffett
petition in the organic U.S. would be a tough sell is also seen as “a non-cor-
milk market. The depart- for even the most savvy rupt, down-to-earth” kind
ment had been particu- Madison Avenue market- of person in China, another
larly concerned about ing firm, even with Buffett’s selling point, Rein said.
a long-term strategic voracious appetite for Buffett is so well known in
partnership and sup- Cokes. China, when his Berkshire
ply and licensing deals It’s a different story in Chi- Hathaway began stream-
between Danone S.A. na, where Cherry Coke ing its annual meeting on-
and CROPP Coopera- went on sale for the first line last year, it was translat-

This image shows an ad for Coke products, including a can of
Cherry Coke with a likeness of billionaire investor Warren Buf-
fett, in China. Coke said it introduced Cherry Coke in China on
March 10, 2017, and that the special edition cans with Buffett’s
image will remain on shelves for a limited time. Buffett is a known
fan of Cherry Coke, and his Berkshire Hathaway is Coke’s larg-
est single shareholder.
(The Coca-Cola Co. via AP)

ed real-time into Mandarin nearly 10 percent of Chi-
Chinese. nese car maker BYD Co.
Buffett is also an admirer of “I think my ‘popularity’ in
the economic prowess of China is due to the huge
China. Berkshire Hathaway, interest in stocks in China
in addition to being Coke’s that has developed in just
biggest shareholder, owns a couple of decades.