Press release -
MÜLLER COMPLETES DAIRY CREST DAIRIES ACQUSITION
Combined organisation to be called Müller Milk & Ingredients
Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller has confirmed that it has completed the acquisition of Dairy Crest’s dairy business on December 26th, 2015.
The company will now bring Müller Wiseman Dairies and Dairy Crest’s dairy operations together to create a new organisation called Müller Milk & Ingredients, which aims to be the biggest and best of its kind in the UK.
Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller Chief Executive, Ronald Kers said:
“With this transaction now concluded we have the opportunity, together with our colleagues, customers, farmers and suppliers, to build on our progress in the UK and create an exciting new future for our dairy business.”
Müller Milk & Ingredients Managing Director Andrew McInnes said:
“It is clear that we have a committed workforce and a key priority is to get to know our new colleagues and ensure that they have the information they need to perform their roles and their questions are answered.
“For now it’s very much business as usual and colleagues from Müller Wiseman Dairies and Dairy Crest deserve enormous credit for successfully delivering their obligations to customers over the key festive period.”
Employees will be able to access detailed information on the vision and plans for the new organisation through a series of site meetings together with information sent to their homes and available on a dedicated online portal. Customers, farmers and suppliers will also receive information on the new organisation which is tailored to meet their needs.
Müller is also renaming its Müller Dairy yogurt and chilled desserts business as Müller Yogurt & Desserts. Managing Director Bergen Merey said:
"Our branded and private label yogurt and desserts business continues to develop strongly at our production sites in Market Drayton, Minsterley and Telford. We’ve got great plans for 2016 and it makes sense to rename the business to reflect the products which we are proud to make.”
Ends… 27 December 2015
Issued by Graeme Jack, Group Communications Director, Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller Tel +44 (0)1355 598585 or +44 (0) 7900 430269
Note to Editors
Image caption: L to R - Ronald Kers and Andew McInnes
Additional press resources can be found on the media section of our website: www.muller.co.uk/media
These include past press releases detailing the history of the acquisition process, and supporting images, logos and documents for download.
Further information is also available on our website at www.muller.co.uk
Transaction History
- Müller announced its intention to acquire the dairy operations of Dairy Crest on 6th November 2014, subject to approval by competition authorities
- The acquisition comprised Dairy Crest’s processing, trading and distribution activities relating to liquid milk, packaged cream, flavoured milk and bulk commodity ingredients
- It included Dairy Crest’s dairy facilities at Severnside, Chadwell Heath, Foston and Hanworth together with around 70 depots, employing around 3,500 people.
- The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed its approval of the acquisition on 19th October 2015.
- The decision followed agreement by the CMA that Müller would toll process a nominated volume of fresh liquid milk for fresh milk processor Medina Dairy at the Severnside facility to ensure competition for national multiple tenders in the South West, Wales, the South and the Midlands.
- The transaction completed on December 26th, 2015.
- The new Müller Milk & Ingredients business will employ over 8,000 people and process 25% of Britain’s milk production, with 2,000 dairy farmers contracted to supply the business.
Topics
Müller UK & Ireland
Müller UK & Ireland is wholly owned by the Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller. It employs around 10,000 people in a business which comprises two distinct business units: Müller Milk & Ingredients and Müller Yogurt & Desserts.
Based in Market Drayton, Müller Yogurt & Desserts is the UK’s leading yogurt manufacturer, responsible for major brands such as Müller Corner, Müllerlight and Müller Rice. It also produces, at production facilities in Minsterley near Shrewsbury, chilled desserts including Cadbury Bubbles of Joy, Pots of Joy, Layers of Joy and Twin-pot products under licence from Mondelez International.
Müller Yogurt & Desserts also supplies the UK private label yogurt market from a state of the art yogurt facility in Telford, Shropshire.
Müller Milk & Ingredients aims to be the biggest and best fresh milk and ingredients business with a network of dairies and depots servicing customers throughout the country, producing skimmed, semi-skimmed, whole, and flavoured milk products for brands such as Black & White, The One, freshnlo and FRijj . It also has the capacity to produce salted, unsalted and lactic butter each year for both the domestic and international markets.
The acquisition of Dairy Crest’s dairy operations in December 2015 marked a milestone in Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller’s global growth strategy and in particular its aspiration to place much more emphasis on end to end supply chain innovation, adding value to the UK dairy category.
