April 6, 2011

Soprole withdraws proposal to merge

Fonterra Co-operative Groupconfirmed that its Chilean subsidiary, Soprole, had withdrawn a proposal to merge its business with Nestle Chile's liquid and chilled dairy business.

Fonterra CEO Andrew Ferriersaid Soprole and Nestle Chile had today (Apr 6) agreed to withdraw the application. The parent companies Nestlé S.A. and Fonterra, assessed the conditions to continue with the application were not appropriate and have no plans to present a new application to the Chilean authorities.

Ferrier said Soprole would now focus on continuing to grow its consumer business in Chile. "Soprole already has a very strong position in the Chile market and has been posting strong growth in recent years.  The team is now focused on building on that strong foundation," he said.