Fonterra sells Tip Top to global ice cream giant Froneri

By MiNDFOOD

Tip Top sold to ice cream giant Froneri
Cute boy excited for his Ice Cream cone.
Fonterra has sold Tip Top to global dairy giant Froneri for $380 million.

Froneri, the parent company of Peters Ice Cream, has today agreed to acquire the iconic New Zealand ice cream business Tip Top from global dairy co-operative Fonterra with completion expected by the end of the month.

The new owner of Tip Top says it plans to bring innovation to the ice cream business and isn’t ruling out product collaborations with some of the biggest brands in the industry.

Commenting on the deal, Froneri CEO Ibrahim Najafi explains: “We have always admired Tip Top, which is an iconic brand in New Zealand with a long proud history and we are looking forward to welcoming the team into Froneri. Our vision is to build the world’s best ice cream company; an important part of our strategy is to develop local market successes and roll them out across our other markets.”

Same high-quality ice cream

The Tip Top name and its operations, including the Auckland based factory site at Mount Wellington will be maintained.

Najafi adds: “Our consumers are at the heart of our business and we intend to invest in the Tip Top brands, products and manufacturing facility to ensure we continue to excite the market and New Zealanders with delicious high-quality ice cream made from fresh New Zealand milk and cream.”

Froneri has confirmed that the business will continue to be led by the existing management team.

Commenting on future plans for the business Kim Ballinger, the Managing Director of Tip Top said: “As part of the Froneri family we will benefit from Froneri’s scale and expertise, while continuing to maintain our commitment to our local heritage and our many loyal consumers in New Zealand and the wider Asia Pacific region. We’re all very excited about what the future holds.”

The sale of Tip Top for $380 million represents a gain of around $100 million above book value, Fonterra said in a statement. The agreed settlement date is 31 May 2019.

Leading brands include part of the deal include Tip Top, Kāpiti, Trumpet and Popsicle.

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