Danone acquires U.S. plant-based organic formula maker Kate Farms
Santa Barbara, California-based Kate Farms makes formulas and shakes for everyday needs as well as for tube feeding for people with health conditions.
Richard and Michelle Laver founded the company in 2012 after their daughter Kate, who has cerebral palsy, had difficulties with eating. Their products are sold to hospitals and consumers across the country.
'We consider Kate Farms very complementary to our specialized nutrition offerings and capabilities, which we believe will allow us to reach more consumers and patients and bring a high-quality new standard of care to more people with a wider variety of health needs,' Danone Group Deputy CEO Shane Grant said in an interview. 'It's a really important build for us in the U.S.'
The size of the majority stake and financial terms were not disclosed.
Paris-based Danone, which owns yogurt brand Activia, plant-based milk brand Silk and Evian water, signaled its interest in acquisitions after it reported strong 2024 earnings in February.
Kate Farms has previously raised money from investors such as Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Main Street Advisors. In 2022, it raised $75 million in a Series C growth capital round.
Kate Farms' senior management will retain a minority stake in the business, and its CEO, Brett Matthews, will serve as chairman and CEO of Danone's North American Medical Nutrition business.
Danone has been operating in the U.S. since 1942, and now has more than 5,000 U.S. employees and 13 U.S. manufacturing facilities and one research and development hub. It has a market value of about $57 billion.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ITV News
an hour ago
- ITV News
HR chief Kristin Cabot resigns after viral 'kiss cam' video at Coldplay concert
The pair were seen embracing at the Coldplay concert earlier this month Credit: TikTok @InstaaGraace A US tech company's chief people officer has resigned after she was spotted embracing the company's chief executive at a Coldplay concert. Kristin Cabot, who oversaw Astronomer's human resources, was seen with the company's boss, Andy Byron, on the 'kiss cam' screen at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, earlier this month. The New York-based company confirmed to ITV News' US partner CNN on Thursday that she had resigned. Mr Byron had his arms around his colleague, but when they saw themselves on the big screen, the pair quickly separated and attempted to hide their faces. He resigned last week after being placed on leave, according to an earlier statement shared with CNN. 'Whoa, look at these two,' Coldplay frontman Chris Martin quipped at the time. 'Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy.' The video of the two quickly went viral online, along with alleged statements from the ex-CEO acknowledging the situation. Astronomer, however, said on LinkedIn that Mr Bryon had not put out any statement and 'reports saying otherwise are all incorrect.' That statement also addressed the misidentification of a third person seen in the viral clip. 'Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability,' the statement also read. The data operations company, founded in 2018, acknowledged in a separate statement that 'awareness of our company may have changed overnight,' but its mission would continue to focus on addressing data and artificial intelligence problems. The company said Astronomer's co-founder and Chief Product Officer, Pete DeJoy, would serve as interim CEO. Mr Byron's LinkedIn account is no longer public, and he was removed from the company's leadership page following the announcement, which now lists co-founder DeJoy as CEO.
Reuters
10 hours ago
- Reuters
Edwards Lifesciences raises annual sales forecast on strong demand for heart devices
July 24 (Reuters) - Edwards Lifesciences (EW.N), opens new tab raised its 2025 sales forecast on Thursday, citing strong demand for its artificial heart valves and other medical devices, after posting better-than-expected results for the second quarter. Shares of the California-based company rose about 8% in extended trading. Investor confidence in medical device makers has climbed in recent quarters, underpinned by robust demand for surgical procedures, particularly among older adults. Edwards now expects full-year sales in the range of $5.9 billion to $6.1 billion, having raised the lower end of its previous forecast from $5.7 billion while maintaining the upper end. Earlier on Thursday, larger rival Boston Scientific (BSX.N), opens new tab also raised its annual profit forecast, buoyed by strong demand for its heart devices. Sales of Edwards' flagship transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) devices, used in minimally invasive heart surgeries, jumped 8.9% to $1.13 billion in the quarter ended June 30, topping analysts' average estimate of $1.09 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. On an adjusted basis, Edwards earned 67 cents per share in the second quarter, beating Wall Street's estimate of 62 cents per share. It reported revenue of $1.53 billion, surpassing market expectation of $1.49 billion. The company said it now expects its 2025 adjusted earnings to come in at the high end of its earlier forecast range of $2.40 to $2.50 per share. Edwards said its forecast factors in current tariffs and warned that any changes or new tariffs could significantly impact future results.
Reuters
11 hours ago
- Reuters
Intel says it is laying off 15% of workers as chipmaker grapples with manufacturing challenges
July 24 (Reuters) - Intel said on Thursday it is laying off 15% of its workforce and new CEO Lip Bu Tan presented a blueprint for a more cost-disciplined, streamlined chipmaker that would issue "no more blank checks." The plans are part of the effort by Tan, who took the helm in March, to turn around the storied U.S. chipmaker. Intel has divested businesses, laid off employees and redirected resources to focus on projects in which Tan believes customers are interested. The company has underperformed due to years of strategic missteps. Intel has virtually no foothold in the booming AI chip industry that is dominated by Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and its longtime rival AMD (AMD.O), opens new tab has been gaining share in Intel's mainstay personal computer and server semiconductor markets. As part of the cuts, Intel attempted to take a 'surgical' approach and remove layers of middle management, finance chief David Zinsner told Reuters on Thursday. 'We took out about 50% of the layers of the company,' Zinsner said. The company is cutting its workforce by 15% from 96,400 that it reported at the end of June, and plans to further reduce the company's headcount to 75,000 by the end of the year. The remainder of the cuts to bring the headcount to 75,000 will be through attrition and "other means," according to the company. In a memo to employees, Tan said Intel is changing its strategy for building manufacturing capacity and now plans to build factories only when the demand for its chips is there. Previously, the company had built factories ahead of demand. Intel is now working to bring its so-called 18A manufacturing process, which has few external customers, to high volume. In the memo, Tan said the company plans to take a disciplined approach to investments in the next-generation 14A manufacturing process. Intel shares were down 0.4% in choppy after-hours trading on Thursday. In its securities filings, Intel said that if it fails to find a significant external customer for 14A, it may be forced to exit the chip manufacturing business. The company said it is retaining the option to make all products that need performance beyond its 18A generation at external foundries. Prior to Tan's tenure, Intel had committed to tens of billions of dollars of new factory construction in the U.S. and elsewhere. On Thursday, Tan wrote the company now plans to slow construction work on new factories in Ohio and halt planned factories in Poland and Germany. Tan also said the company would consolidate chip packaging operations in Costa Rica with its other packaging operations in Vietnam and Malaysia, breaking with a longtime Intel practice of maintaining operations in separate global regions for supply-chain resiliency. The Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker disclosed the layoff goals as it forecast steeper third-quarter losses than Wall Street estimates on Thursday, despite anticipating higher sales than analysts expected. The company said it expects a third-quarter loss of 24 cents per share, steeper than estimates of losses of 18 cents per share, according to data from LSEG. Intel expects revenue of $12.6 billion to $13.6 billion for the September quarter, with a midpoint of $13.1 billion that was higher than analysts' average estimate of $12.65 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Growth in the PC market is uncertain after customers pulled shipments forward to the first half of the year amid ongoing trade negotiations, analysts have said. Shipments of PCs rose 6.5% in the June quarter according to data from International Data Corporation. While semiconductors are currently exempt from U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping global tariffs, Intel and its fellow chipmakers are facing customers who are reluctant about spending commitments amid widespread macroeconomic uncertainty. Intel's second-quarter revenue for the period ended June 28 was flat at $12.9 billion, snapping a four-quarter streak of sales declines. The result beat estimates of $11.92 billion, according to LSEG data. In April, Intel agreed to sell a 51% stake in its Altera programmable chip business for $4.46 billion. Intel said job cuts contributed to restructuring costs of $1.9 billion in the second quarter. It recorded June quarter adjusted losses of 10 cents per share, compared with estimates of a profit of 1 cent per share. Its unadjusted loss was 67 cents per share in the second quarter, steeper than analyst estimates of a 26-cent-per-share loss.
