1919: "DANONE" was founded by Isaac Carasso in Barcelona (Spain) as a small factory producing yoghurt. "DANONE" is a Catalan diminutive of the name of his first son, Daniel.
- 1929: The first factory was built in France, but during World War II, Daniel Carasso moved the company to New York, where Dannon Milk Products Inc. was founded. In the United States, Daniel partnered with the Swiss-born Spaniard Joe Metzger and changed the brand name to DANONE which sounded more American.
- 1951: Daniel Carasso returned to Paris to manage the family's businesses in France and Spain, and the American business was sold off in 1959.
- 1967: In Europe, DANONE merged with Gervais, the leading fresh cheese producer in France, thus becoming Gervais DANONE.
[...] Twelve lawsuits had been initiated within China and in six other jurisdictions. The battle represented hundreds of millions of Euros. DANONE asked for a merger but Wahaha refused, and a tribunal proposal was the only way the resolve the situation. The tribunals are the last solution to resolve an issue like this, because it is difficult for people to work together later, if they have been fighting for their own interest in the recent past. This situation breaks the corporate culture created by the joint venture. [...]
[...] Thus, that year, the joint venture between Wahaha and DANONE was looked as the win-win cooperation in China. Both of them got what they needed from the other and succeeded in increasing business in the future What is the Right process to resolve a dispute? According to Wikipedia a Joint Venture is an entity formed between two or more parties, here DANONE and the Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co, to undertake economic activity together. The parties agree to create a new entity by contributing equity, and then share the revenues, expenses, and control of the enterprise. [...]
[...] The Wahaha trademark was assigned to the main joint venture vehicle on 29 February 1996, and a joint venture agreement was eventually signed on 28 March 1996. The "foreign partners" took while the "Chinese partners" held 49% (of which WHH holds 39% and employees own 10%). Group DANONE and Peregrine together invested US$70 million in return for the stake in five joint venture WHH companies with the exclusive rights of production, distribution and sales of products under the Wahaha brand. When Peregrine collapsed in 1998, Groupe DANONE acquired its stake in the JVs, and became the majority owner. [...]
[...] Why did DANONE and Wahaha embark on a joint venture for doing business in China? This is not only a question for this case, but also a question for the common joint venture. The joint venture between DANONE and Wahaha was a good success case for the Chinese market it displayed good cooperation and good business. In my opinion, the answer to the question is the link between the needs of market and the needs of technology. This implies that DANONE wanted Chinese market share and Wahaha wanted better technology. [...]
[...] In August 2005, the Group sold its sauces business in the United Kingdom and in the United States (HP Foods); in January 2006, its sauces business in Asia (Amoy Food) was sold to Ajinomoto. Despite these divestitures, DANONE continues to expand internationally in its 3 core business units, emphasizing health and well-being products. In July 2007, it was announced that DANONE had reached an agreement with Kraft to sell its biscuits division, including the LU and Prince brands, for around 5.3 billion. [...]
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