Danone To Buy WhiteWave Foods For Enterprise Value Of $12.5 Bln, Incl Debt

(RTTNews) - French dairy giant Danone SA (DANOY) agreed to buy WhiteWave Foods Co. (WWAV) for $56.25 per share in an all-cash transaction, representing a total enterprise value of approximately $12.5 billion, including debt and certain other WhiteWave liabilities.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of both companies. Its price represents a premium of approximately 24 percent over WhiteWave's 30-day average closing trading price ($45.43).

Danone expects the transaction to be solidly accretive to Danone's earnings within the first year after closing and to be above 10 percent accretion based on expected run-rate synergies. The transaction is expected to result in approximately $300 million of EBIT synergies by 2020.

After the closing of the transaction, Danone will submit to its shareholders a resolution appointing Gregg ENGLES, WhiteWave Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, to the Danone Board of Directors.

The transaction, which is expected to close by the end of the year, is subject to WhiteWave shareholders approval, receipt of required regulatory approvals, including in the European Union and the United States and other customary closing conditions.

The acquisition of WhiteWave is expected to be fully financed with debt for which Danone has received commitments from its bank.