Danone and The WhiteWave Foods Company (WhiteWave) recently announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement, where France-based Danone will acquire WhiteWave 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 Board of Directors of both companies unanimously approved the transaction. Its price represents a premium of approximately 24 percent over WhiteWave’s 30-day average closing trading price ($45.43). The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year, subject to the approval of WhiteWave’s shareholders, regulatory approvals and customary conditions.

WhiteWave is a global company which generated $4 billion in sales in 2015 and has a portfolio of large and leading branded platforms in North America and Europe in high-growth, on-trend food and beverage categories which focus on Premium Organic Dairy, non-GMO, plant-based alternatives to milk & yogurt, fresh foods and coffee creamers. With a strong entrepreneurial spirit, WhiteWave has a successful track record of transforming categories and creating large scale brands. WhiteWave’s business includes highly recognized, category-leading brands such as Silk, So Delicious, Vega, Alpro, Provamel, Horizon Organic, Wallaby Organic, Earthbound Farm and International Delight.

“At Danone, we constantly seek to align our vision of the world, our mission and our businesses: we believe we have a special responsibility, as expressed in our Manifesto, to help and support people in adopting healthier and more sustainable eating and drinking practices and constantly evolve our portfolio of brands and products to achieve this objective. To that extent, we found in WhiteWave the perfect alliance, as we both believe in a healthier future and are conscious of our power to lead society forward,” said Emmanuel Faber, Danone chief executive officer. “This unique combination positions us better to address tomorrow’s consumer trends and represents a great opportunity to step change the ambition of our plan for an Alimentation revolution and to accelerate our path towards strong sustainable and profitable growth by 2020. It will allow us to enhance Danone’s growth profile and reinforce our resilience through a broader platform in North America. We are convinced that combining with WhiteWave will create significant value for all of our stakeholders.”

For more information, please visit www.danone.com/en.