Street Talk

Three’s a crowd: bidder field narrows for Fonterra as Bega pairs up

Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

Jul 15, 2025 – 3.24pm

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ASX-listed Bega Group, which owns the Dairy Farmers, Dare, Yoplait and Farmers Union brands, has teamed up with a deep-pocketed offshore player to bid for Fonterra’s sprawling Australian food and consumer business.

Bega has formed a consortium with Dutch multinational dairy cooperative FrieslandCampina and is preparing to go head-to-head with UBS-advised Japanese food company Meiji Holdings Co and French dairy giant Lactalis in the auction, people briefed on the matter, who asked to remain anonymous, told this column on Tuesday.

Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones.

Kanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column.

Emma Rapaport is a co-editor of the Street Talk column. Prior to that, she was a markets reporter at The Australian Financial Review.