The multinational dairy company Danone has signed an agreement to sell its Horizon Organic and Wallaby subsidies to Platinum Equity, a U.S.-based investment firm that specializes in mergers, acquisitions and operations.

The sale is part of the company’s portfolio review and asset rotation program the company announced in March 2022 as part of its Renew Danone strategy, according to a press release.

In 2022, Horizon Organic and Wallaby represented approximately 3% of Danone’s global revenues and had lower sales growth and operating margins than the company’s other subsidies, according to Danone.

The France-based company reported net sales of nearly $7.6 billion in the third quarter.

“As part of our Renew Danone strategy, we committed to a portfolio review and asset rotation for businesses that fell outside our priority growth areas of focus to drive value creation,” Danone CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique said in the press release.

“Today marks an important milestone in delivering this commitment while giving the Horizon Organic and Wallaby businesses the opportunity to thrive under new leadership,” he said.

Growth priorities

“This sale, once completed, will allow us to concentrate further on our current portfolio of strong, health-focused brands and reinvest in our growth priorities,” he said.

In January, 2023, Danone announced it would explore the potential sale of its organic dairy activity in the U.S. comprised of the Horizon Organic and Wallaby businesses.

Danone will retain a non-consolidated minority stake in the businesses.