Bega Cheese Limited will buy Mondelez International’s Australia and New Zealand grocery and cheese business, which includes iconic food brands like Vegemite.
The sale includes other products using the Kraft brand under license for items such as peanut butter, nut spreads, processed cheese slices, ambient cheese spread, mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, Kraft Easy Mac and Kraft Mac & Cheese.
Bega will also receive a license to the Dairylea brand for use in Australia and New Zealand, but Philadelphia is not included in the deal.
The company will pay $460 million for the business and the acquisition and executive chairman of Bega Cheese, Barry Irvin said he was proud that an Australian company is acquiring the iconic Vegemite brand.
“The wonderful heritage and values that Vegemite represents and its importance to Australian culture makes its combination with Bega Cheese truly exciting. Bega is a company with humble origins and to be in a position to be able to take on a business of this scale and with brands including Vegemite is a testament to how far we have come.”
Irvin continued, “We feel honoured to be bringing these businesses together and to be taking on the responsibility and guardianship of one of Australia’s most loved brands and we look forward to welcoming over 200 talented people into our business as part of this acquisition.”