Müller to acquire Robert Wiseman Dairies

Robert Wiseman Dairies, the UK’s leading milk supplier, has agreed to an all cash buy-out offer of £279.5m ($427m) from Müller Dairy UK, which is owned by German-based company Theo Müller.

Müller has reached an irrevocable agreement to acquire the UK-listed company for a cash offer of 390p per share, 60% more than Robert Wiseman’s closing share price last Thursday, a day before the talks began.

Robert Wiseman, chairman of the company, and his family own 35.1% of the company and will approximately earn £98m for their stake, while dairy farmer co-operative First Milk, which holds 10% stake, will earn £27.9m. Wiseman’s management will remain in place even after the transaction.

This move comes a few days after Müller revealed its plans to lower the price it pays to farmers for milk, and less than two months after it announced its plans to cut 55 jobs.

Robert Wiseman Dairies, established in 1947, procures, processes and distributes almost 30% of the fresh milk consumed in the UK daily, with customers including The Co-operative Group, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. It operates six major processing dairies in Aberdeen, East Kilbride, Glasgow, Manchester, Droitwich Spa and Bridgwater, as well as 14 distribution depots, with a workforce of 5,000.

Robert Wiseman reported a fall in profits at the time of its last earnings in November, as increases in the cost of raw milk affected its margins and it posted a full-year revenue of £918m in 2011.

Privately-owned Theo Mueller, which was established in Bavaria in 1896, is known for its Müller brand of yogurts and creamed rice and has a turnover of £1.8bn. Its subsidiary Müller Dairy UK, based in Market Drayton, produces and markets yogurt and other dairy products, including yogurt drinks, fruit juice jelly, cheesecake yogurt and chocolate sprinkles.

Müller’s buy-out offer marks the latest in a series of foreign acquisitions in the UK, of which the most controversial is the takeover of chocolate firm Cadbury by US-based Kraft Foods.

Image: Müller’s buy-out offer marks the latest in a series of foreign acquisitions in the UK, of which the most controversial is the takeover of chocolate firm Cadbury by US-based Kraft Foods. Image courtesy of Robert Wiseman Dairies