Swiss food giant Nestle and Britain’s R&R Ice Cream have completed establishing a joint venture Froneri to combine their activities in ice cream, frozen food and chilled dairy.
The joint venture will integrate both the companies’ ice cream activities in Europe, the Middle East (excluding Israel), Argentina, Australia, Brazil, the Philippines and South Africa.
Froneri said on its website: “Following the successful conclusion of the required regulatory clearances, Nestlé and R&R have completed the transaction to create Froneri, a new joint venture in ice cream, frozen food and chilled dairy. Nestlé and PAI Partners have equal equity interests in the joint venture. “
The 50/50 joint venture was announced in April, with its headquarters in the UK.
Froneri, with sales of nearly €2.6bn, will have presence in 22 countries across the world, employing around 15,000 people.
It said: “Froneri’s leadership team combines industry expertise and business acumen from across Nestlé and R&R.”
The joint venture will also include Nestlé’s European frozen food business (excluding pizza and retail frozen food in Italy), and its chilled dairy business in the Philippines.
Nestle CEO Paul Bulcke said: “This is an exciting growth opportunity in a dynamic category. Froneri will capitalise on complementary strengths and innovation expertise, combining Nestlé’s strong and successful brands and experience in ‘out-of-home’ distribution with R&R’s competitive manufacturing model and significant presence in retail.”
While Froneri’s board of directors is chaired by Luis Cantarell, Nestlé’s executive vice president, Europe, Middle East and North Africa, it will headed by former CEO of R&R Ibrahim Najafi.
