ISLAMABAD (PR): A delegation of China-based dairy company Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co Limited (Yili) visited the head office of Fauji Foods Limited (FFL) last month. The Chinese company has shown interest to acquire up to 51 per cent of voting shares and/or control of FFL from Fauji Fertilizers Bin Qasim Limited (FFBL) and other shareholders, in reference to the submitted letter of intention back in July this year.

Lazard Saudi Arabia has been appointed as the lead financial advisor, Riaz Ahmad & Company, Chartered Accountants as the joint financial advisor and Chima & Ibrahim as the legal advisor by FFBL. CitiBank has been appointed as the manager to the offer by Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group for the acquisition.

Yili’s delegation that consisted of senior level management was impressed by the scale of dairy sector of Pakistan and facilities at FFL. The state of the art plant, supply chain network, human resource and distribution models of FFL were of particular interest to the Chinese delegation.

The visiting delegation also conducted market research on setting up an ice cream and milk powder plant and network in Pakistan in collaboration with FFL. The potential of exports to China from FFL was also deliberated.

The largest dairy producer in Asia and the eighth largest in the world, state-owned Yili started off as a small dairy-product processing factory in Inner Mongolia in 1993.

Yili launched its first major overseas dairy operations in New Zealand in 2014. It also has a partnership with Italian dairy giant Sterilgarda Alimenti, and a European research and development center in the Netherlands, the first such overseas facility for a Chinese dairy company.

The Chinese company is principally engaged in the processing, production and distribution of dairy products and mixed feedstuffs. The company's major products include ice-cream, milk tea powder, sterilized milk, fresh milk, powdered milk, yoghurt, butter, cheese and organic milk. Yili’s wide range of powdered milk products and dairy drinks are specifically tailored for all age groups from infant to old age.

Fauji Foods Limited processes and sells milk, fruit juices and allied dairy products in Pakistan. It offers dairy products such as flavored milk, butter, whole pasteurized milk, cheese and UHT milk under the brand Nurpur.