Betta Milk sale clears competition hurdle, expected to finalise soon

Launceston-headquartered TasFoods Limited plans to sell its Betta Milk and Meander Valley Dairy businesses to Bega Cheese Limited for $11 million plus inventory.

TasFoods, which is continuing a long struggle to become profitable, bought Betta for $11.5 million in 2019 and Meander Valley Dairy for $2.1 million in 2015.

The Bega deal will extend its list of acquisitions later sold for less than what was paid for them.

That list also includes North-West-based Shima Wasabi.

TasFoods bought Shima for $2.75 million in 2016.

It announced a $2.1 million writedown of goodwill for Shima in 2018 and sold it for $700,000 to Hillwood Berries this year.

The Bega deal was subject to various conditions, and some remain after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission decided not to object.

"We are pleased that Bega, an iconic Australian company with a strong heritage in both the dairy sector and Tasmania, has chosen to add Betta Milk, Pyengana Milk and Meander Valley Dairy to its stable of brands, which will ensure that these well-loved brands remain available to consumers," TasFoods said.

It said it expected the deal to be completed by the end of the year.

TasFoods chief executive Scott Hadley in August said: "The sale of (the) Betta Milk and Meander Valley Dairy businesses and the licensing of Pyengana Milk represents an important step towards simplifying TasFoods and strengthening the company's balance sheet."

"The transaction allows us to sharpen our focus on delivering organic growth across Nichols Poultry and Pyengana Cheese, while continuing to identify and evaluate strategic and financially compelling opportunities in adjacent, high-growth food and beverage sectors to create sustainable value for our shareholders."