Abraaj Group Acquires Majority Shareholding in Fan Milk International

One of Denmark’s international success stories, Fan Milk International A/S, is seeing a change of ownership. The Emborg family from Aalborg, who are the majority shareholders, have together with the private equity fund Maj Invest Equity and the management, entered into an agreement to sell the majority shareholding in Fan Milk International A/S to the private equity fund Abraaj Group. Takeover is expected before the end of November this year. “For more than 50 years, Fan Milk has developed from being a small company producing and selling dairy products in Ghana and with its head office in Aalborg into a truly international dairy group with revenue of DKK 880 million in 2012 and a fantastic brand throughout all of West Africa,” says Preben Sunke, Chairman of Fan Milk International’s Board of Directors. The Emborg family and Maj Invest have been thinking about selling the company for some time, as there has been a common desire to place further development of the company in the hands of new owners. It was hardly in the cards for the visionary businessman Erik Emborg that Fan Milk should one day become one of the most well-known and treasured brands in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso, when, after several trips to West Africa in the late 1950s, he decided to establish the first dairy company in Ghana. “Fan Milk has had quite a journey. There was not much help on hand when production started in Ghana in 1960. It is the story of a small dairy in Africa and a Danish entrepreneur who travelled the world trying his luck, and who was willing to pursue his ideas even though it didn’t succeed first time,” says Preben Sunke. By West African standards, Fan Milk is an unusually high-profile enterprise which is visible and very much in evidence in its markets. In several countries, awareness of the Fan Milk brands even surpasses that of several global food and drinks conglomerates. Thousands of jobs have been created in the poor but fast-growing region where Fan Milk has a market of 250 million consumers. “It is a Danish entrepreneurial adventure which has blossomed and matured into a self-sustaining international group,” says Preben Sunke, adding that growth in recent years has been made possible after Maj Invest joined the circle of owners at the end of 2007. “The success we have today has not just happened. We have had a very competent management and employees who have believed in the company and worked unbelievably hard and dedicated in a region which, for long periods of time, was hardly conducive to business,” says Preben Sunke, and he adds, “Running a business in West Africa is no mean feat. Changing legislation, daily power cuts and economic uncertainty are all part of everyday life. “However, the African continent is seeing dramatic growth and development. Today, more than half of the fastest-growing economies in the world are found in Africa, and signs are that this trend will strengthen further towards 2020.” The parties have agreed not to publish the purchase price. FIH PARTNERS advised the sellers on the transaction.