Danone's right to the trademarks of joint venture
partner Wahaha have been terminated after
it lost an arbitration battle in a Chinese court, the group
said today.
France-based Danone has successfully frozen the assets of a number
of enterprises allegedly linked to Chinese joint venture partner
Wahaha, on the back of increasing legal pressure over property
rights in the country.
Danone and Numico will be forced to offload some of their European
operations to go ahead with their planned merger into one of the
world's leading nutrition companies.
Danone is a step nearer to going it alone in the Chinese dairy
market after selling its entire 20.01 per cent stake in
Shanghai-based Bright Dairy and Food and terminating a distribution
agreement for its products.
There was more trouble for Danone's joint-venture operations this
week as the company launched legal action against
Colombia-based rival Alpina in a trademark dispute.
Danone has played down fears over the safety of some of its yoghurt
products as it becomes the latest European company to be hit by
concerns over possible dioxin contamination in guar gum.
Groupe Danone expects to conclude its acquisition of nutrition
company Numico in the first half of November, the two companies
said today, setting a timetable for the French group's bid to lead
the field in health and nutrition.
Danone yesterday announced a major restructuring of its senior
management as it continues to refocus its operations towards being
a leading player in health and nutrition.
Danone has increased like-for-like sales by 8.2 per cent to €7.5bn
during the first half of the year as it continues to refocus its
operations towards health and nutrition.
Standard & Poor's announced today that it has lowered
its credit ratings on French company Danone, based on
the projected increased debt due its proposed acquisition of
Numico.
Group Danone is experiencing further set backs to its plan to
expand its presence into Asia's booming dairy markets, as an Indian
joint venture partner turns the tables on the dairy giant,
according to press reports.
A legal disagreement between Danone and a Chinese business
partner today got personal, after the dairy giant was branded as
being "despicable" for launching a
court action in the US.
France's Danone and Japan's Yakult will continue their strategic
alliance involving closer cooperation on R&D and entry into new
markets, maintaining their positions as leaders in the probiotics
market.
Decline within Group Danone's Asian operations failed to dampen a
strong first quarter performance for the company as like-for-like
sales underwent a 10.1 per cent rise to €3.6bn.
Danone gave a bullish account of its 2006 performance, citing
strong growth for blockbuster dairy brands and an 'outstanding'
performance in beverage markets.
France's Danone must pay a €42m fine for its role in a cartel in
Belgium, an EU court has ruled, backing Commission plans to get
tough on repeat offenders.
French dairy group Danone has bought complete control of its
Japanese joint venture, lured by the promise of riches from rapidly
growing consumer demand for healthy dairy products.
Danone, the world's leading dairy producer, has announced plans to
work alongside a local counterpart Dutch Mill Co. to distribute and
manufacture a range of fresh dairy products within Thailand.
French biscuits, water and yoghurt group Danone said yesterday that
it had signed a joint venture with China's leading dairy Mengniu to
cooperate in the production and distribution of fresh dairy
products in China.
It is not a task for the faint-hearted, but French dairy and food
group Danone has pledged to use more research and development
resources to tackle malnutrition around the world.
Danone is planning to introduce a new line of cosmetic yoghurts
next year, according to press reports, as it seeks the next level
of differentiation in the increasingly competitive functional dairy
market.
Britain's advert watchdog has told dairy group Danone to pull a new
television ad for its Actimel probiotic drink because the health
claims made are misleading for consumers.
French food and water giant Danone has built up a war chest of up
to €1bn to spend on acquisitions over the next three to five years,
according to a report.
Emerging markets and new 'health products' helped Danone to
continue its strong sales growth in the second quarter of 2006,
though the group has struggled to turn around losses on its home
French market.
Yes, that's right. Freshly retired French footballer Zinedine
Zidane may yet be selected to join the board of dairy, water and
biscuit giant Danone, says a report.
French dairy group Danone has seen shares rise after rumours again
surfaced that the firm may be taken over by a foreign company, this
time Kraft Foods.
Leading US organic dairy firm Stonyfield Farm and Danone have
joined forces to create a European subsidiary, which the groups
hope will duplicate Stonyfield's US success in Europe's organic
dairy industry.
Groupe Danone's growing interest in the Algerian dairy market
underlines the importance of the North African / Middle East region
to European milk processors.
Number one dairy producer Danone has recorded strong results for
the first quarter of 2006, bolstered by a focused leadership and
continuing record sales in Asia.
French dairy giant, Danone, has launched an action against Glanbia,
Yoplait International and Yoplait Marque Internationales in the
Dublin High Court, after alleged infringments on trademark after
the launch of the Yoplait Essence...
France's Danone has announced a three-year licence with US-based
Integrated Genomics for access to the ERGO database and genomic
discovery system to enhance the group's probiotic understanding and
R&D.
French food giant Danone is set to announce plans for a new dairy
plant in Bangladesh to provide nutritious foods to low-income
consumers, following successful entry into a number of similar
emerging markets.
Sales of a DHA-fortified children's yoghurt launched last month in
Canada are already exceeding expectations, with parents keen to
improve their children's brain development through nutrition, says
manufacturer Danone Canada.
Danone, France's iconic dairy group, is working with a prestigious
French research institute to find new probiotic strains for dairy
products and understand more about how the 'friendly bacteria'
work.
The French group launched its first dairy research centre in Asia
at the same time as raising its stake in China's Bright Dairy &
Food Co to 11.55 per cent.
The French dairy group will launch its successful Activia probiotic
yoghurts in the US at the start of next year as American consumers
catch on to the benefits of 'friendly bacteria'.
Added value dairy and soft drinks lead Danone to a sales rise in
the third quarter, but the firm is banking on a new pricing and
innovation strategy to re-ignite itself at home in France.
French yoghurt and biscuit maker Danone said today that it is not
looking to acquire the Dutch infant nutrition firm Numico, after
rumours that Danone was making a bid pushed up the Dutch group's
shares.
Danone's chairman appeared to defend French government proposals
for more transparency from firms during takeover rumours, in an
internal interview concerning the recent PepsiCo gossip.