Lakeland Dairies has completed its acquisition of Belgian-based business De Brandt Dairy International, the company has announced.
The development aims to increase the cross-border cooperative’s value-added capability.
The deal will see Lakeland acquire De Brandt’s customer base, as well as other European assets for the business.
It will allow Lakeland to expand further into the European market.
Texturised Butter
The company will significantly grow its operational capability in the premium texturised-butter market as part of the deal.
Texturised butter is key in the baking and catering industries. The De Brandt business, which specialises in butter, will now be serviced by Lakeland Dairies.
De Brandt’s headquarters is based in Dendermonde, approximately 30 kilometres north-west of Brussels.
De Brandt is a family-owned business established over 100 years ago, and it has remained in the family until this acquisition.
The two companies have enjoyed a decades-long relationship, including direct supply arrangements between the Lakeland Dairies butter-processing facility in Derry and De Brandt’s European operations.
‘Strongest-Possible Returns’
Lakeland Dairies’ chairperson, Niall Matthews, welcomed news of the acquisition, calling it “a real show of strength” by the Irish cooperative.
Matthews said, “I acknowledge the hard work and dedication of those involved in concluding this deal, and I look forward to seeing the integration of the De Brandt butterfat business into Lakeland Dairies for the benefit of our farmers, our staff, our customers, and the broad community of people we serve.”
Chief executive of Lakeland Colin Kelly similarly expressed his excitement at the news.
Kelly said, “Having experienced a decade of volume growth, the next decade is about strategically increasing our added-value capability, to ensure that we are in a position to deliver the strongest-possible returns to our farm families.
“This acquisition gives us a firm foothold in new markets in Europe and beyond, enabling us to further grow and develop our world-class product offering for our current long-term and future new customers.”
Lakeland signed a deal worth €15.3 million with Aldi in September, which it hoped would see the co-op expand.
The dairy co-op has 3,200 farm families supplying two billion litres of milk annually.
Read More: Aldi Ireland Reports €1.1bn Spend With Irish Suppliers In 2023
