Kirin snaps up Aussie dairy giant

Kirin Holdings Co Ltd, Japan's largest beverage maker, agreed to buy Australia's Dairy Farmers for A$675 million ($583 million) in cash as it seeks to expand outside of its shrinking home market.

The offer by Kirin's National Foods unit is worth A$5.65 a share for the closely held company with assumed debt boosting the enterprise value to A$910 million, Dairy Farmers Chief Executive Officer Rob Gordon said in a conference call yesterday.

The deal, which involves acquiring the brands Coon cheese and Ski yogurt, will boost the amount Kirin has spent on purchases since October to more than $9 billion, according to Bloomberg data. The Tokyo-based company earlier this month said it plans to spend 300 billion yen ($3.14 billion) maintaining growth by expanding outside of Japan.