A major foreign acquisition involving one very well known Croatian company - Zagreb's Dukat.

As Vedran Marjanovic/Novac writes on the 25th of June, 2019, the French company Lactalis, the owner of the Croatian company Dukat and the world's largest milk and dairy producer, have completed the take over of the Italian cheese producer Nuova Castelli in a purchase of which all the details are not yet known to the public.

After Lactalis and its recent owner of eighty percent of the shares of Italy's Nuova Castelli, the British fund Charterhouse Capital Partners have announced the signing of a share purchase agreement which involves Croatia's Dukat, it is now expected that the Italian regulatory authorities will issue all of the necessary approvals for the acquisition to be fully realised.

''We're stepping up our leadership in the distribution of cheeses on international markets where we're already a leading player in more than 140 countries,'' a statement read, very briefly detailing the conclusion of the contract of the aforementioned British fund, which, in spite of refusing to reveal the total amount of this likely hefty transaction, stated that when negotiating with Lactalis, advisers were hired from Rotschild, the French bank Credit Agricole, and the Simmons&Simmons lawyer from London, United Kingdom.

Nuova Castelli is otherwise the largest Italian manufacturer and trader for cheeses, including Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, Gorgonzola and Taleggios, with a more than enviable annual income of 460 million euros. The company operates in thirteen manufacturing locations across Italy and also boasts three plants outside of that country.

When Britain's Charterhouse took over five years ago, the previous owners of that Italian company was paid a massive 350 million euros.

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