WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand dairy exporter Fonterra (>> Fonterra Shareholders' Fund) on Wednesday said that it would pay 18 renminbi per share in Chinese milk formula maker Hangzhou Beingmate (>> Beingmate Baby & Child Food Co Ltd), adding that it would invest a total of total of NZ$615 million (310.36 million pounds) in the dairy tie-up.
The partnership is Fonterra's first with a Chinese dairy processor since its tie-up with Chinese dairy company Sanlu. Fonterra had a stake in the Chinese firm, which was found to have added toxic melamine to bulk up formulas in 2008.
Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings said that China's dairy industry had changed significantly since then.
"China is a complete different environment now, Beingmate is a completely different partner ... and we are also completely different from where we were five, six years ago. We are very focused on learning from the past and moving on to the future," he told reporters.
"Extensive due diligence has taken place from both sides and we have made arrangements on governance very clear, two out of nine directors will come from us," Spierings said, speaking from Beijing.
(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Michael Perry)
