PARIS: Groupe Danone is to acquire Dutch babyfood maker Royal Numico for €12.3 billion ($16.7bn; £8.3bn).
The French foods giant, whose brands include Activia yogurts and Evian bottled water, last week announced the sale of its cookie brands business to Kraft Foods. It is thought the €5.3bn proceeds will be used to finance the Numico deal.
The two companies do not expect the merger to have any significant effects on jobs when it is finalized in October. Numico will continue to be based at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and Danone will keep its current organization intact.
Data sourced from New York Times; additional content by WARC staff
