Danone Ups the Ante to Purchase Lifeway Foods

Nov. 15, 2024

After initial offer to purchase Lifeway Foods for $25 per share was rejected, Danone North America PBC has increased its proposal to $27 per share, or about $23 million more.

Andy Hanacek

A day after kefir producer Lifeway Foods announced its 20^th consecutive quarter of net sales growth in its third-quarter financial report, Danone North America PBC has upped the ante to acquire Lifeway, increasing its offer to $27 per share remaining (up from $25/share offered in September and rejected earlier this month).

The total value of the offer now stands at roughly $306 million, versus the $283 million proposal sent on Sept. 23, 2024. Danone currently holds a 23.3% stake in Lifeway Foods and would be looking to purchase the remainder of the shares of the company.

The Lifeway board of directors defended the decision to reject the September offer, saying that proposal “substantially undervalues” the company — and the third-quarter results appear to support that decision, despite some members of the founding Smolyansky family expressing their desire at the time to reconsider the initial offer.

For its part, with its new offer, Danone also stated in a letter to Lifeway chairperson of the board, president and CEO Julie Smolyansky, that it was “disappointed” by the board’s rejection of the original offer. Danone believes that Lifeway accepting a deal would offer an “attractive opportunity to achieve its full potential.”

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.