Italy's Parmalat has acquired Harvey Fresh, a dairy and fruit juice maker based in Western Australia, for US$109 million.

Italian dairy giant Parmalat has bought control of Western Australian milk and fruit juice company Harvey Fresh.

Harvey Fresh, established in the farming town of Harvey, south of Perth, in 1986, is Western Australia's second largest dairy producer. The company currently also exports to Singapore, Hong Kong, China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Its revenue last financial year was US$156 million.

Parmalat said the takeover makes it a "fully national player" in the Australian market and "improves the Group's export capability to the Asiatic markets". It has indicated that it will retain the Harvey Fresh brand on dairy and juice products.

It also owns the Pauls dairy brand, Vaalia yoghurt and several iced coffee brands.