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  • December 2017 (Revised February 2021)
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Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:17
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Abstract

In January 2017, the leadership team of Bega Cheese—the Australian dairy company—was considering a bid for Mondelēz International’s Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) grocery business, which included several leading consumer brands such as Vegemite, the iconic Australian spread. The team must decide whether to bid for the division and, if so, how much to offer and how to finance the all-cash bid. Making these decisions was difficult because this would be Bega’s largest acquisition ever and it would extend the firm outside of its core dairy business. In addition to the valuation and financing issues, the leadership team must decide whether shifting from the firm's current B2B business model (manufacturing and processing dairy products) to a more B2C business model (a producer of branded consumer foods) made sense strategically.

Keywords

Mergers & Acquisitions; Value Drivers; Discounted Cash Flow (DCF); Dairy Industry; Corporate Scope; Consumer Goods; Iconic Brands; Bidding Strategy; Cross Border; Financing; Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Value Creation; Diversification; Business Divisions; Corporate Finance; Capital Structure; Food; Bids and Bidding; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Australia; United States

Citation

Esty, Benjamin C., and Lauren G. Pickle. "Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home." Harvard Business School Case 218-001, December 2017. (Revised February 2021.)
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About The Author

Benjamin C. Esty

Finance
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Related Work

    • December 2017
    • Faculty Research

    Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home

    By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle
    • December 2017 (Revised January 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home

    By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle
    • December 2017 (Revised January 2018)
    • Faculty Research

    Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home

    By: Benjamin C. Esty, Lauren G. Pickle and Greg Saldutte
    • December 2017 (Revised February 2021)
    • Faculty Research

    Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home

    By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle
Related Work
  • Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle
  • Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle
  • Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home By: Benjamin C. Esty, Lauren G. Pickle and Greg Saldutte
  • Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle
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