The Viet Nam Dairy Products Joint Stock Co. (Vinamilk) has received a license to purchase a 70 per cent stake of Driftwood Co. in California, at a cost of US$7 million.— Photo vtc

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) – The Viet Nam Dairy Products Joint Stock Co. (Vinamilk) has received a license to purchase a 70 per cent stake of Driftwood Co. in California, at a cost of US$7 million.

Established in 1946, Driftwood Dairy specialise in producing and distributing products such as fresh milk, soybean and milk ice cream, and fruit juice for schools. It is the largest such company in California.

The company, which sells its products in California and abroad, has annual revenue of more than $100 million. However, it has yet to turn a profit.

According to HCM City Securities Corporation (HSC), Vinamilk is expected to help Driftwood turn a profit.

Vinamilk will expand production under the Driftwood trademark, and then after market research, it will launch Vinamilk-branded products.

This is the second foreign trade deal of Vinamilk after the company in 2009 poured VND179 billion into Miraka Company that specialises in whole milk powder from New Zealand for a 19.3 per cent stake of the business.

Miraka is an important raw-material supplier of powdered milk for Vinamilk.

This year, the company targets total revenue of VND32,500 billion, after-tax profits of VND6,230 billion, and 34 per cent dividends.

After nine months, the company has reached 80 per cent of the year's profit plans.

Vinamilk has also announced that underprivileged children in Cam Khe District in Phu Tho Province were provided with more than 33,000 free glasses of milk.

The milk donation programme is under the Viet Nam Rising Milk Fund launched by the Vietnam Children Sponsoring Fund and Vinamilk. It aims to reduce the percentage of malnourished children nationwide.

In the last five years, the fund provided 20 million free glasses of milk worth VND75 billion to 286,000 underprivileged children nationwide. — VNS