Bright Food's purchase of Australian firm Mundella broadens global reach

China's Bright Food said it has agreed to buy Australian dairy company Mundella Foods through its Australian subsidiary, expanding the state-owned conglomerate's overseas reach and boosting its exposure to the growing dairy market.

Manassen Foods, the Australian company that Bright Food bought in 2011, had signed an agreement to buy Western Australia's Mundella, Bright Food spokesman Pan Jianjun said yesterday.

The terms of the deal had been decided but the transaction value would be finalised once Mundella's 2013 financial results were available, Pan said.

Interest in Australian dairy assets has grown due to surging sales in Asia. A takeover battle for the country's oldest dairy producer, Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory, has been one of the most hotly contested in recent months, as Canada's Saputo attempts to outbid local dairy companies Murray Goulburn Co-operative and Bega Cheese.

Established as a family business in 1974, Mundella produces soft cheese, yoghurt and probiotic yoghurt drinks.

The company began exporting to Asia in 2010 and has a contract for sour cream with Wesfarmers' Australian supermarket chain Coles.