Abbott, Fonterra To Develop Dairy Farm Hub In China

(RTTNews) - Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and New Zealand's Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd said Thursday that they have signed an agreement to develop a proposed dairy farm hub in China.

The strategic alliance, which is subject to Chinese regulatory approval, will leverage Fonterra's expertise in dairy nutrition and farming in China and Abbott's continued commitment to business development in China.

Both companies will work with Chinese regulators to obtain necessary approvals through the course of the project's development.

If approved, Abbott and Fonterra will form a joint venture to invest a combined US$300 million into the farm hub, which will contain up to five dairy farms and more than 16,000 dairy milking cattle in production, producing up to 160 million liters of milk annually.

Pending regulatory approval, the first farm is expected to be completed and producing milk in the first half of 2017 and the remaining farms will commence production in 2018.