We look back at the industry’s major mergers, acquisitions and divestments and ponder what comes next.
General Mills’ North American yogurt business
Announced in late 2024, it was one of dairy’s ‘elephant deals’: a $2.1bn divestment that was to redefine North America’s yogurt landscape, particularly in the US.
General Mills opted to shed its yogurt business – including brands Yoplait and :ratio – as it looked to focus on its core segments of pet food, snacking, cereal, ice cream and meals. French dairy co-operative Sodiaal snapped up General Mills’ yogurt portfolio in Canada while Lactalis USA bought the US portion of the business.
Sodiaal was the first to conclude its part of the deal, in January 2025 – netting General Mills around $96m in pre-tax gains. The French co-operative, which acquired Yoplait in Europe in 2021 from General Mills, added the brand’s Canadian operations, along with those of Liberté.
In June 2025, the US Department of Justice waved through Lactalis USA’s acquisition – valued at around $2bn – handing it full ownership of :ratio and Mountain High and, under license, that of Go-Gurt, Yoplait and Liberté.
In late 2025, Lactalis USA entered the GLP-1 race with a potted yogurt product from :ratio specifically formulated to address the nutritional needs of consumers taking weight loss medications.
Unilever’s ice cream demerger
Unilever was yet another CPG major that trimmed its portfolio in order to focus on core businesses – by shedding its ice cream division, including brands Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s.
Instead of selling the business, Unilever opted to spin it off, forming The Magnum Ice Cream Company. The demerger was completed in early December 2025 when Unilever floated TMICC on the London, Amsterdam and New York stock exchanges, debuting with a valuation of €8bn.
Described as the largest ice cream company – and one that competes neck in neck with Nestlé co-owned Froneri – the Magnum Ice Cream Company is believed to be better positioned to compete in the fragmented yet lucrative as a separate company rather than as part of a CPG major.
CEO Fernando Fernandez described Ice Cream as ‘a clear outlier’ in Unilever’s portfolio, adding that the company needs to ‘leave that behind’ and focus on future growth through Beauty, Wellbeing and Personal Care.
The Magnum Ice Cream Company’s early moves – such as investment in AI to formulate new products, and expanding production capacity in the UK – suggest that no expense will be spared as the pure-play ice cream company gears up for a busy year ahead.
European co-ops link up
The first half of 2025 also saw major shake-ups in the European dairy space – with FrieslandCampina announcing a merger agreement with Milcobel, and Arla Foods set to join forces with Germany’s DMK.
The former secured regulatory clearance and is subject to agreement from each co-op’s members: here’s what that means for FrieslandCampina and Milcobel’s joint future.
Meanwhile, Arla Foods and DMK are yet to hear back from regulators on their own merger, despite approval from each co-op’s members.
Both cases are examples of ongoing market consolidation in Europe, which faces flat to declining milk production.
Fonterra’s exit from consumer dairy
The biggest deal of the year – which is set to be formalized in H1 2026, pending regulatory approvals – is the agreement between New Zealand co-op Fonterra and French multi-national Lactalis for the former’s consumer and associated businesses in Australia and Oceania.
The NZ$4.22bn deal encompasses ownership of Fonterra consumer brands such as Anchor plus integrated foodservice and ingredients businesses in strategic, high-growth and emerging parts of the world for Lactalis – as well as milk supply agreements that would make the two parties long-term partners, with Lactalis becoming one of Fonterra’s largest ingredients customers.
Fonterra meanwhile is freed up to re-invest in its core B2B business units, Foodservice and Ingredients, where it sees the best ROI for its farmers. The co-op has retained its Greater China consumer business, however, where it continues to see growth potential.
The deal will net Fonterra more than $4bn after settlement costs, with shareholders down to receive NZ$2.00 per share or NZ$3.2bn in total tax-free cash return.