Nigeria PZ Cussons to Sell to FrieslandCampina WAMCO

The United Kingdom-based consumer products company, PZ Cussons has announced its intention to sell the Nigerian arm of its dairy business, Nutricima, to FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, an affiliate of Royal FrieslandCampina in the Netherlands.

It was revealed by the former in a statement released and presented by Nairametrics. Neither firm has revealed the financial details of the deal.

Nutricima produces and distributes beverages in Africa. Its food range includes milk and yogurt related beverages such as Nunu, Yo and Olympic. Under the name Nunu, the company offers a wide variety of powdered, evaporated and ready-to-drink (RTD) milk drinks while under the name Yo. It sells yoghurt drinks as well as a variety of RTD yoghurt.

PZ Cussons traded properties linked to Nutricima’s business with FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria, a subsidiary of the Dutch multinational dairy cooperative Royal FrieslandCampina. Completion of the transaction is subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals in Nigeria.

In addition to this transaction, PZ Cussons has completed the sale of its Polish personal care brand Luksja to the Athens-based personal care company Sarantis Group.

As part of the deal, Sarantis has also agreed to distribute certain PZ Cussons’ brands including Carex, Original Source and Morning Fresh in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe.

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Alexander Goma resigns from PZ Cussons as Executive Director, PZ Cussons on making known the company’s intention to sell the Nigeria arm, confirms the retirement of the CEO and appoints a new CEO. Speaking on the proposed sale of Nutricima, Caroline Silver, Executive Chairman of PZ Cussons, said that the deal is in line with the group’s strategy and will allow it to deliver high-margin earnings, among others.

“The proposed sale of Nutricima and the sale of Luksja are further steps forward under our ‘Focus, Scale and Accelerate’ strategy, as we continue to streamline the Group to focus investment on core Personal Care and Beauty brands. This will enable us to deliver higher-margin earnings, in geographies which can scale, and support the return of the Group to sustainable, profitable growth,” Silver said.

FrieslandCampina has a long history in Nigeria through its WAMCO subsidiary. It was founded as West Africa Milk Company Nigeria (WAMCO) in April 1973 and started operations in 1975. The company is a subsidiary of Royal FrieslandCampina of the Netherlands, one of the largest dairy producers in the world.

PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc is a subsidiary of Manchester-based PZ Cussons Holdings, which owns majority shares in the firm. It is a publicly listed Nigerian producer and distributor of consumer goods such as detergents, toiletries, soaps and home appliances.

Ultimately, the company manufactures beauty and personal care, baby products, bath products, oral care, dental care, fragrances and skincare. Some of the famous products produced by PZ include soaps such as Ava, Canoe, Elephant, Flourish, Joy, Morning Fresh, Nunu and Premier, to name a few.