Deals this week: DAL Group, Dairy Farmers of America, Agrana

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has granted a $75m loan to DAL Group for supporting the expansion of its vertically integrated food and agriculture operations.

Based in Sudan, DAL Group is a food and agriculture business company.

DAL Group will use new technology for expanding its food processing and packaging capacity, as well as fortifying its integrated value chain model.

The company will also increase its product portfolio and ability to source and produce local raw material.

The transaction caters to the AfDB’s ‘Feed Africa’ strategy and other non-lending interventions of the African Development Bank Group in Sudan.

Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) has agreed to acquire Agropur’s facility in St Paul, Minnesota, for an undisclosed amount.

DFA is a national milk marketing co-operative, while Agropur is a North American dairy co-operative established in 1938.

The St Paul facility is engaged in the production of fresh and aseptic dairy products for grocery store chains and organic milk brands.

The transaction enables DFA to add aseptic processing to its business portfolio and extend shelf-life capabilities.

DFA will continue to employ its existing staff and management team for day-to-day operations such as customer relationships, milk procurement, and production.

Agrana and Amalgamated have agreed to form a joint venture (JV) for constructing a betaine crystallisation plant at Agrana’s sugar mill in Tulln, Austria.

Estimated to cost €40m ($45.6m), the construction of the crystallisation plant will start in early-2019.

Tulln facility will become the world’s third betaine crystallisation production site and will produce natural crystalline betaine.

Based in Austria, Agrana is a producer of fruit juice concentrates and starch. It is also a leading manufacturer of sugar in Central and Eastern Europe.

Based in the US, Amalgamated is a sugar beet producer that holds an acreage of 73,000ha in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

Dole Food has entered an agreement to sell its subsidiaries Saba Fresh Cuts and Saba Fresh Cuts to BAMA International for an undisclosed sum.

Based in the US, Dole Food is a global producer and distributor of fresh fruit and vegetables, while BAMA International is a produce distributor based in Norway.

The subsidiaries produce washed, ready-to-eat salads and sell various fresh-cut salads and vegetables to retail and foodservice industry in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany and the Baltic States.

The divestment of Saba Fresh Cuts will fulfil the necessary condition of the European Commission for approving the investment by Total Produce into Dole in July 2018.

Houlihan Lokey is the advisor to Dole for the transaction.

Arla Foods has entered an agreement with Mondeléz International for the acquisition of its processed cheese business in the Middle East region. The business is licensed under the Kraft brand.

Arla Foods is an international cooperative based in Denmark, while Mondeléz is a multinational confectionery, food and beverage company based in the US.

The transaction enables Arla to take complete ownership of the cheese production site in Bahrain, as well as improve its production of branded cheese in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

The production facility features an on-site innovation pilot plant with a production capacity of over 66,000t.

The transaction is expected to increase Arla’s capacity and enable it to establish a competitive supply chain footprint.