Hongkong Jingang Trade Holding Co Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yili Industrial Group Co Ltd, bought Westland Co-operative Dairy Company Ltd, New Zealand's second-largest dairy company, at an equity transfer ceremony in Auckland, New Zealand on Aug 1. 

Huang Yuefeng, economic and commercial counselor of China’s Embassy to New Zealand, addressed the ceremony. He hailed the acquisition as an important move in strengthening economic cooperation and strategic collaboration between China and New Zealand, proving once again that China and New Zealand are committed to improving bilateral relations. 

“I believe that we have made the correct decision in joining Yili, as the company has always been dedicated to the production of healthy and reliable food, and we are honored to become part of the company and be able to contribute to that goal,” said Peter Morrison, former CEO of Westland.

Yili Group has shown that it is capable of making Westland more influential around the world. Nearly 93.97 percent of Westland shareholders voted for the acquisition on July 4. 

Yili Group has been steadily expanding its overseas business in recent years. It initiated the Sino-US Food Intelligence Valley in the Americas in 2015 and established a cooperation laboratory with Wageningen University in Europe in 2018. 

The company also funded a development center and dairy production center in Oceania in 2014. 

Yili Group is the largest dairy enterprise in China by market share and in 2018, the company set a new industry record with a revenue of nearly 80 billion yuan in 2018 ($11.2 billion), up 10.32 percent from 2017.

Hong Kong Jingang Trade Holding Co Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yili Group, acquires Westland Co-operative Dairy Company Ltd at a transaction ceremony in Oakland, New Zealand on Aug 1. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]