Fonterra’s Mainland IPO milks investor thirst for new ideas
The guts of the business is to take milk from Australia and New Zealand farms, turn it into cheese and butter, and sell it regionally. Is that tasty enough in volatile markets?
Western Star butter and Bega cheese maker Mainland Group is the closest thing investors have seen to a privatisation in 11 years.
It’s big – about $4.5 billion revenue – makes most of its sales in Australia and New Zealand, is growing in Asia and management is tired of competing for both capital and attention inside a bigger group while telling investors there is plenty of margin upside.
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Anthony Macdonald is a Chanticleer columnist. He is a former Street Talk co-editor and has 10 years' experience as a business journalist and worked at PwC, auditing and advising financial services companies. Connect with Anthony on Twitter. Email Anthony at a.macdonald@afr.com
