Saputo’s purchase will cut costs

Article Excerpt

SAPUTO INC. $46 (Toronto symbol SAP; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 392.8 million; Market cap: $18.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 1.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.saputo.com) is Canada’s largest producer of dairy products, including milk, butter and cheese. It also operates dairies in the U.S., Australia and Argentina. In 2014, the company purchased roughly 88% of Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory, one of Australia’s largest dairy producers. Saputo paid $450 million for this stake. The company recently launched a takeover bid for the remaining 12% of Warrnambool. However, it had to increase its initial offer by 2.3% to win the deal. As a result, it will now pay $85 million for this stake. Gaining full control over Warrnambool will make it easier for Saputo to cut costs. It aims to complete this purchase by the end of March 2017. Saputo is a hold. hold…