French firm Danone, buys 40pc stake in Brookside Dairy

French food group Danone said on Friday it was buying a 40 per cent stake in Brookside, East Africa’s top dairy producer, as part of plans to expand in new markets amid weak growth in Europe and a slowing economy in China.

The deal, whose financial terms were not disclosed, was sealed with the controlling Kenyatta family, and will boost Danone’s earnings, Emmanuel Marchant, vice-president for corporate development, told Reuters by phone. Africa has, in recent years, become a major area of expansion for Danone and other global consumer companies such as Unilever, Nestle, Pernod Ricard and Diageo, attracted by the spending power of the growing middle class.