The French food multinational Danone intends to acquire the Dutch supplier of baby- and specialty foods Numico. Danone said yesterday it is willing to pay €12.3bn for Numico. This equals €55 per share which is a 23.5 per cent premium on the Numico stock’s closing price yesterday (€44.50). The deal is supported by Numico’s Supervisory and Executive Board. The latter’s members can share a bonus of at least €150mn.

The huge reward for Numico’s management team didn’t impact the decision to go ahead with the acquisition. At least, that’s what Numico’s chief executive Jan Bennink (who earns at least €65mn) states via his spokesperson. “It has bever been a reason to clinch the deal with Danone”, the spokesperson said.

Bennink joined Numico in 2002 when the company was ailing after a failed acquisition in the US. Before that, he worked for... Danone (see related article). Both Bennink and Numico’s CFO Jean Marc Huët (€27mn) will be leaving the company next year, if the acquisition by Danone is definitive. Danone did not yet disclose who will be in charge of its newly acquired division.

The price Danone will pay for Numico is 44 per cent higher than the average price it’s share was traded over the last three months. “The price Groupe Danone is offering today is a reflection of the outstanding quality and positioning of Numico as one of the world’s leaders in healthy nutrition”, commented Franck Riboud, chairman and CEO of Danone. “The combination of the two groups will create a unique food company – the one with the clearest and most powerful health positioning in the world. With this project, we are designing a new Groupe Danone, enhancing dramatically its growth profile and its growth potential for the years to come.”

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