Incorporated: 1966 as Boussois Souchon-Neuvesel
NAIC: 311421 Fruit and Vegetable Canning; 311422 Specialty Canning; 311511 Fluid Milk Manufacturing; 311514 Dry, Condensed, and Evaporated Dairy Product Manufacturing; 311999 All Other Miscellaneous Food Manufacturing; 312111 Soft Drink Manufacturing; 312112 Bottled Water Manufacturing
SIC: 2033 Canned Fruits & Vegetables; 2035 Pickles, Sauces & Salad Dressings; 2032 Canned Specialties; 2026 Fluid Milk; 2023 Dry, Condensed & Evaporated Dairy Products; 2086 Bottled & Canned Soft Drinks
Groupe Danone is one of the largest food companies in the world, placing particular emphasis on "healthy" food products. The operations of Danone (which is pronounced dah-KNOWN) revolve around four core businesses: fresh dairy products, principally yogurts; beverages, mainly bottled water; baby food; and clinical nutrition products. The company holds the number one position worldwide in dairy products, with Danone (Dannon in the United States) the world's top dairy product brand; the number two position worldwide in bottled waters, including two of the top five brands in the world, Evian and Volvic; and the number two position worldwide in baby foods with such brands as Blédina, Nutricia, Milupa, Mellin, Dumex, and Cow & Gate. Known until 1994 as BSN Groupe S.A., Groupe Danone sells its products in more than 150 countries; around two-thirds of revenues are generated in Europe, 16 percent in Asia, and 18 elsewhere in the world.
Bottlemaking Beginnings
In 1958, 39-year-old Antoine Riboud inherited the glassmaking company founded by his great uncle nearly a century before in Lyons. Riboud had begun his career working in its factory during World War II. Souchon-Neuvesel produced hollow glass, bottles, jars, flasks, and glass tableware. A small company, it recorded only about $10 million in sales that year.
Riboud concentrated on hollow glassmaking until 1966, when La Verrerie Souchon-Neuvesel merged with Glaces de Boussois, a maker of flat glass for automobiles and housing. The new company was named Boussois Souchon-Neuvesel, and Riboud was named president.
In 1967 the company boasted FRF 1.1 billion in sales and was renamed BSN. It had become a major European maker of glass containers, but was still dwarfed by its competitor and France's largest glassmaker, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, founded in 1665 by Louis XIV. The next year Riboud made one of the largest French takeover bids ever for this company, with more than ten times as many employees as BSN, using tactics considered radical in France at the time: he proposed to swap BSN convertible bonds for Saint-Gobain stock. Saint-Gobain's board members fended off the offer by claiming that it violated French laws and European Economic Community rules on monopolies. Saint-Gobain also launched a major publicity campaign to rally support from stockholders against BSN's "cheap" bid. The Wall Street Journal called it "the David-vs.-Goliath campaign," and Riboud's tactics brought him the admiration of younger businessmen ready for fresh air in the French business establishment. Sadly, in the midst of such publicity, Riboud's apartment in Paris was bombed by a terrorist gang. In the end, shareholders came to Saint-Gobain's rescue, acquiring a 40 percent holding to BSN's 10 percent, and BSN dropped the bid.
Diversification into Filling the Bottles
BSN's defeat led Riboud to diversify into the food industry. "I saw it would be better to fill the bottles rather than just make them," he explained to Forbes in 1980. In 1970 BSN acquired Société Anonyme des Eaux Minérales d'Evian, Société Européenne de Brasserie, and Brasseries Kronenbourg, becoming a leader in natural spring water and baby food, as well as the largest brewer in France. The next year, in an effort to tap the consumer taste for premium beers, BSN introduced its Kanterbraü beer.
In the meantime, BSN established its first flat-glass manufacturing subsidiary, Flachglass A.G., in West Germany in 1970, and two years later it acquired a controlling interest in Glaverbel, a Belgian flat-glass producer. Together with earlier expansion programs in West Germany, Austria, and the Benelux countries, these acquisitions gave BSN almost half the European market for flat glass.
The establishment of the Common Market at the end of the 1950s forced French companies to be more competitive, and between the early 1960s and 1973 France became the fastest-growing industrialized country after Japan. BSN also experienced rapid growth, culminating in 1973 with a merger between BSN and Gervais Danone, France's largest food company and the leader in yogurt, natural cheese, desserts, and pasta. That year sales for the new BSN-Gervais Danone topped FRF 9 billion.
By 1973, however, BSN began to suffer from the impact of the energy crisis, which had severe consequences for the two main markets for flat glass, the construction and automotive industries. For the next five years the profits of many major French companies declined sharply, mainly because of higher costs for energy and raw materials. After a period of growth, the French foreign trade balance fell into deficit. Fortunately BSN had made most of its acquisitions with stock rather than cash, so the company's finances were able to weather the crisis. Riboud tried to help the flat-glass sector recover by building three new glass units in northern France and adding more efficient float-glass equipment to BSN plants all over Europe. Nonetheless, beginning in 1974, the company shut down 22 furnaces and reduced its workforce by 30 percent. In five years of restructuring the company spent FRF 2.5 billion. The crisis was a turning point for the company; from that point on glass would be primarily a complement to its food and beverage businesses.
BSN acquired a minority interest in Ebamsa (later known as Font Vella S.A.), the leading Spanish bottler of natural spring water in 1973, and between 1974 and 1977 introduced several new products, including Lacmil and Gervillage. In an effort to dominate the European beer market, in 1978 BSN acquired a minority interest in Alken, a large Belgian brewery. A year later it acquired one-third interests in the breweries Mahou in Spain and Wührer in Italy, and a majority interest in Anglo-Belge in Belgium. BSN next bought four French food manufacturing firms through an exchange of stock interests with Générale Occidentale, a move encouraged by the French government, which was eager to invigorate the food industry and actually drew up a special incentive agreement for investments in food processing and food exports. In 1980 the company entered Japan's dairy market through a joint venture with Japan's Ajinomoto Co., Inc. BSN also bought two French producers of frozen foods and ice cream and two breweries in Nigeria. As it moved into these new fields, BSN nearly doubled its annual sales in grocery products.
Exit from Flat Glass
At the same time, BSN was finally leaving the flat-glass industry, prompted in part by the fear that another oil crisis was imminent. In 1980 BSN sold its West German flat-glass ventures to the British company Pilkington Brothers, and by 1981, BSN had sold its flat-glass subsidiaries in Germany, Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The following year, it sold the French Boussois subsidiary, the last of its flat-glass operations, leaving it with only nine glass container factories. Also in 1981 BSN acquired Dannon, the largest U.S. yogurt-maker, from Beatrice for $84.3 million.
In 1983 BSN-Gervais Danone changed its name back to BSN. In an effort to increase efficiency, Riboud installed computerized production lines, which meant that the company had to lay off 1,000 of its 40,000 employees, a move opposed by the unions but encouraged by French President François Mitterrand, who praised BSN for its contribution toward modernizing French industry. By 1984, BSN had acquired all shares of the champagne makers Pommery et Greno and Lanson Pere et Fils, and had introduced a number of new yogurt products, as well as the Plastishield plastic-coated bottle. Since 1981, the company's sales had risen sharply, and that year it made a record capital investment totaling FRF 2.4 billion. However in July, the European Economic Community imposed fines of about $3.2 million on BSN and Saint-Gobain for price-fixing in the Benelux glass market.
BSN continued to grow in the latter half of the 1980s. In 1985 BSN sold its glass-jar and glass-tableware operations to Verreries Champenoises and acquired a minority interest in that company. BSN also bought the pharmaceuticals-maker Bottu, which specialized in pain relievers and artificial sweeteners.
1986-89: Snapping Up the Cookie Market
In 1986, the company's 20th anniversary year, sales were 35 times higher than the FRF 1.1 billion of its first year. That year, BSN acquired Générale Biscuit S.A., the top producer of biscuits and toasted bread in continental Europe and owner of the prominent European brand LU. BSN also merged its Kronenbourg and Société de Brasserie breweries under the Kronenbourg name. The company acquired Sonnen Basserman in West Germany, and became the world's largest bottler of natural spring water. It also bought a majority interest in Angelo Ghigi, an Italian pasta maker.
In August 1988 BSN acquired the Belgian Maes Group Breweries, the British H.P. Foods, and the American Lea & Perrins as part of Riboud's strategy to gain a more substantial market in Britain and the United States for BSN products (64 percent of BSN's total sales still came from France). Concentrating on growth, Riboud also built several new yogurt plants and bottling facilities in strategic locations, and he spent more than $100 million on European television advertisements for BSN brands.
In 1989 BSN bought the European operations of RJR Nabisco for $2.5 billion, making it the world's second largest producer of biscuits. Also in 1989 BSN made several Italian acquisitions and became the leader in food production in that country.
1990-96: Global Expansion
The early 1990s were marked by BSN's aggressive expansion into the newly opened markets of Eastern Europe, as well as into Asia, Latin America, and South Africa. In Eastern Europe, BSN began by extending the marketing and manufacturing of its existing brands into the region. It later started acquiring or taking controlling stakes in companies, such as cookie makers Cokoládovny of the Czech Republic and Bolshevik of Russia. In Asia, BSN entered into a joint venture, called Britannia Brands, with an Indian partner in 1990 to acquire RJR Nabisco's Asia-Pacific businesses, which included the leading biscuit maker in India and units in New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong manufacturing and marketing biscuits, snacks, nuts, and other products. Three years later, BSN bought out its Asian partner, taking full control of the Britannia companies. China was another target of BSN growth; by the mid-1990s the company had established several joint ventures there producing biscuits, dairy products, Asian-style sauces, and other products. In Latin America, the company in 1994 took a 49 percent stake in Campineira de Alimentos, the number two producer of biscuits in Brazil.
In western Europe, BSN was active consolidating its position by taking control of several companies, including cookie makers Papadopoulos of Greece and W&R Jacob of Ireland, French mineral water manufacturer Mont Dore, and Spanish dairy product producer Danone SA. The company also made selective divestments in areas in which it was unable to gain the number one or two position; an example of this was the champagne sector, which saw BSN sell its Lanson and Pommery brands to LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA for about FRF 3.1 billion ($613.7 million) in 1990.
BSN also received much press in 1992 for its intervention in a takeover battle between the Agnelli family of Italy and Nestlé S.A. for control of the French mineral water company Source Perrier. BSN made a bid itself for the company that controlled Perrier, but only to signal that it sided with Nestlé, from which it hoped to buy Perrier's Volvic mineral water brand. In the end, Nestlé prevailed and agreed to sell Volvic to BSN for about $500 million. The addition of Volvic vaulted BSN into the top spot worldwide in noncarbonated mineral water.
In mid-1994 the company jettisoned its BSN name, which, according to the company "seemed to reflect the company's past rather than looking ahead to the future." In fact, glass containers, the founding business, were by this time responsible for less than 10 percent of overall revenues. In addition, the BSN name was not well known outside of France. The company settled on the name Groupe Danone, because the Danone brand was its number one international brand, accounting for about a quarter of revenues, and Danone products were produced in 30 countries and sold internationally. At the same time, the company adopted a new logo picturing a young boy looking up at a star. Soon thereafter, the company began expanding its use of the Danone brand beyond dairy products into biscuits, mineral water, and baby foods.
By 1995 Danone's sales had reached $16.18 billion, nearly double the 1989 figure of $8.43 billion. This growth was largely the result of Antoine Riboud's aggressive global expansion program in the 1990s, which included $5 billion spent on acquisitions. Riboud chose this juncture of Danone's history to retire, and named his 40-year-old son, Franck Riboud, to succeed him as chairman and CEO in mid-1996. A few months later, Danone entered into a joint venture with the Coca-Cola Company through which the companies agreed to sell refrigerated juice in Europe and Latin America under the joint Minute Maid and Danone brand names. Also in 1996, Danone entered into a joint venture with the Wahaha Group to help that Chinese dairy company expand into bottled water. This venture eventually made the Wahaha brand the leading bottled water brand in China.
Late-Century Shift to Focus on Three Core Areas
In May 1997 Franck Riboud announced the adoption of a new company strategy focusing on three core business areas--dairy products, biscuits, and beverages (specifically water and beer)--in which the company had global leadership. These areas also represented 85 percent of group sales. In the second half of 1997 and in 1998, Danone sold more than half of its grocery product holdings and its entire confectionery business. These disposals included the Panzani, La Familia, Maille, Amora, William Saurin, Agnesi, Liebig, Carambar, and La Pie qui Chante brands. During 1999 Danone sold off additional grocery businesses, including Spanish frozen food maker Pycasa (sold to Nestlé), frozen and chilled ready-to-serve meal units Marie Surgelés and Générale Traiteur (sold to Unigate plc), and its 50 percent stake in Star S.p.A., an Italian maker of a wide range of food products. As a result of these divestments, in late 1999 Danone retained in its grocery sector only HP Foods Ltd., a U.K.-based maker of brown sauces and Asian specialties under the HP, Lea & Perrins, and other brands.
Also during 1999, Danone substantially reduced its holdings in the glass container sector, moving closer to its complete exit from the founding business. The company's container activities were first merged with the food and beverage glass packaging operations in Germany owned by Gerresheimer AG. This enlarged glass container operation adopted the BSN Glasspack name, with the U.K. management buyout firm CVC Capital Partners purchasing a 56 percent stake in the entity and Danone retaining a 44 percent interest.
A series of additional significant deals in 2000 further altered Danone's profile. The company bolstered its position in bottled water in the United States, and entered that nation's home and office water delivery sector, by spending $1.1 billion for McKesson Water Products Company, the third largest producer of packaged water in the United States with such brands as Sparkletts, Alhambra, and Crystal. In a separate deal, Danone acquired the Canadian water brand Naya. The company also sold most of its European beer operations to the U.K. brewer Scottish & Newcastle plc in a deal valued at roughly $2.6 billion. As a result, Danone's beverages activities were centered predominantly in bottled water.
On the biscuits side, Danone engineered a deal whereby a financial consortium took the U.K.-based biscuit maker United Biscuits (UB) private. Following this transaction, UB sold a number of operations to Danone, including savory biscuit operations in the United Kingdom, as well as biscuit businesses in Poland, Hungary, Scandinavia, Italy, and Malaysia. Also in 2000 Danone attempted to further beef up its biscuits business by joining with Cadbury Schweppes PLC on a joint bid for Nabisco Holdings Corp., but the two companies' joint bid was topped by an offer from Philip Morris Companies Inc., which subsequently merged Nabisco into Kraft Foods Inc. Late in 2000 Danone backed away from making a bid for Quaker Oats Company, coveted for its Gatorade sports drink juggernaut, and Quaker ended up in the hands of another Danone rival, PepsiCo, Inc.
2001-03: Restructuring, Divestments, Partnerships
In 2001, while not completing any deals of the magnitude of the previous year, Danone continued its international expansion, making further inroads into developing countries in the dairy, water, and biscuit sectors. Also noteworthy was the firm's purchase of a 39 percent stake in Londonderry, New Hampshire-based Stonyfield Farm, Inc., a leading producer of organic fresh dairy products and the fourth largest yogurt maker in the United States; at the end of 2003, Danone increased its stake in Stonyfield to 80 percent. In March 2001, meanwhile, Danone launched a restructuring of its biscuit operations to deal with overcapacity in Europe. Six factories in Europe, including two in France, were earmarked for closure, eliminating about 2,000 jobs. Workers reacted to rumors about these cutbacks and to the announcement itself with street demonstrations, factory unrest, and strikes.
Danone continued to narrow its focus in 2002 and 2003. In the former year the company divested Galbani, its Italian meat and cheese business, and additional beer assets. In 2003 Danone sold its last remaining glass holding, the 44 percent stake in BSN Glasspack. Following these transactions, the company's only remaining operations outside dairy products, water, and biscuits were its sauce businesses (the HP, Lea & Perrins, and Amoy brands) and a 33 percent stake in the Spanish beer company Mahou.
Also in 2002, Danone and the Coca-Cola Company formed a joint venture through which Coca-Cola began marketing and distributing Danone's lower-end water brands in North America, including Dannon and Sparkletts. In a separate deal, Coke launched the importation and distribution of the high-end Evian brand within North America. Danone entered into two further water partnerships in 2003, in Europe with Eden Springs Ltd. and in the United States with Suntory Limited. Both of these centered on the home and office delivery sectors within the packaged water industry.
2004-06: Completing Shift to Three Core Areas
In 2004 Danone further restructured its biscuits side by selling its Jacob's biscuits business in the United Kingdom and its Irish Biscuits business in Ireland. In the meantime, the firm's home and office water delivery operations were suffering from growing competition, particularly in the United States, leading Danone in late 2004 to write down the value of its U.S. and European operations within this sector by EUR 600 million ($810 million). As a result, net income for 2004 was shaved to EUR 317 million ($429 million), down 62 percent from the previous year. Revenues for the year totaled EUR 13.7 billion ($18.55 billion), an advance of just 4 percent over the 2003 total.
Danone's troubled position in the U.S. water sector led to the 2005 dissolution of its joint venture with Coca-Cola, with the latter buying out Danone's stake for roughly $100 million. Coca-Cola nevertheless continued to distribute the Evian brand in North America. Danone also jettisoned its home and office water delivery businesses in both the United States and Canada, with the U.S. business sold at a net loss of EUR 313 million ($370 million). Additional divestments in 2005 included the stake in Mahou, Danone's last beer asset, and the HP and Lea & Perrins sauce brands, with the latter sold to H.J. Heinz Company for around $855 million. When Danone sold its Amoy sauces business in Asia to Ajinomoto in January 2006, the shift to three core businesses--fresh dairy products, water, and biscuits--that Franck Riboud had launched in 1997 was essentially complete.
Danone was a frequent subject of takeover rumors because of its relatively small size in relation to such food and beverage giants as Nestlé, Kraft, Unilever, and Coca-Cola and because it had no controlling shareholder. The healthful products in its portfolio, led by Evian water, low-cholesterol yogurt Danacol, and the probiotic Activia yogurt, were increasingly attractive both because of the trend for healthier eating and because they were enjoying above-average rates of growth. Furthermore, Danone was also well positioned in another growth area for the global food industry: emerging markets. In July 2005 the company's stock soared on rumors that PepsiCo was preparing a bid for Danone. Numerous French politicians, including Dominique de Villepin, the prime minister, stepped forward vowing to fight to keep the company in French hands. Villepin, in fact, called Danone a "crown jewel," promising to defend it in the national interest of France. Riboud was also determined to maintain his company's independence. In the end, a PepsiCo bid never materialized.
2007 Forward: Goodbye Cookies, Hello Numico
By 2006 the Wahaha brand was one of Danone's top four global brands, along with Danone, LU, and Evian. The Wahaha joint venture was responsible for between 5 and 6 percent of the group's operating profits, and its sales in 2006 totaled EUR 1 billion ($1.35 billion). This venture was thus the centerpiece of Danone's successful penetration of the Chinese market, but a protracted battle between Danone and its partner broke out in 2007 over who controlled the venture. After months of legal wrangling, name-calling, and allegations of double-dealing and mismanagement, the two sides called a truce late in the year and agreed to enter into talks to resolve their differences.
As this dispute played out, Groupe Danone significantly altered its portfolio via a major divestment and an even larger acquisition. In early July 2007 Danone reached an agreement to sell its biscuit operations to Kraft Foods for EUR 5.3 billion ($7.8 billion). Less than a week later Danone agreed to acquire Royal Numico N.V., a Dutch maker of baby foods and nutritional bars and shakes, for EUR 12.3 billion ($18.2 billion). After these deals gained regulatory approval, the only conditions being the sale of certain baby food product lines in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and were completed in the fall of 2007, Danone could boost an even more healthful line of products having ditched cookies and significantly bolstered its position in baby food. The company had been the market leader in France for baby food with its Blédina brand, which had been housed within its dairy business, but with the purchase of Numico, Danone became the number two maker of baby food worldwide. Numico marketed its products in more than 100 countries under such brands as Nutricia, Milupa, Mellin, Dumex, and Cow & Gate. Going forward, Danone envisioned a brighter future for itself with its nearly complete focus on high-growth health-oriented products.
Principal Subsidiaries
FRESH DAIRY PRODUCTS: Danone Ges.mbH (Austria); N.V. Danone S.A. (Belgium); Danone Serdika (Bulgaria); Danone a.s. (Czech Republic; 98.3%); Danone A/S (Denmark); Danone Finlande Oy; Blédina; Danone; Danone GmbH (Germany); Danone Grèce (Greece); Danone Kft (Hungary); Danone Ltd (Ireland); Danone SpA (Italy); Danone Sp zoo (Poland); Danone Portugal S.A. (55.17%); Danone SRL (Romania); Danone Industria (Russia; 70%); Danone Volga (Russia; 63.54%); Danone Spol s.r.o. (Slovakia); Danone (Slovenia); Danone S.A. (Spain; 57.15%); Danone AB (Sweden); Danone Nederland B.V. (Netherlands); Danone Tikvesli (Turkey); Danone (Ukraine); Rodich (Ukraine); Danone Ltd (U.K.); Danone Argentina S.A. (99.45%); Danone Ltda. (Brazil); Danone Canada Delisle Inc.; Danone de Mexico; The Dannon Co. (U.S.A.); Stonyfield Farm (U.S.A.; 83.99%); Danone Djurdjura (Algeria); Danone Dairy Egypt; Al Safi Danone Company (Saudi Arabia; 50.1%); Danone Clover (South Africa; 55%); PT Danone Dairy Indonesia (70.3%); Danone Japan. BEVERAGES: Danone Waters Beverage Benelux (Belgium); Evian (SAEME); Mont Roucous; Seat (99.86%); Smda; Volvic (SEV); Drinkco; Danone Waters Deutschland (Germany); Zywiec Zdroj (Poland); Aguas Font Vella y Lanjarón (Spain; 78.46%); Evian Volvic Suisse (Switzerland); Danone Hayat (Turkey); Danone Waters UK & Ireland; Aguas Danone de Argentina; Danone Naya (Canada); Bonafont (Mexico); Great Brands of Europe (U.S.A.); Salus (Uruguay; 58.46%); Tessala (Algeria); Frucor Beverages (Australia); Wahaha Group (China; 51%); Robust Group (China; 92%); Shenzhen Health Drinks (China); Aqua (Indonesia; 74%); Frucor (New Zealand). NUMICO: Royal Numico N.V. (Netherlands); Numico Research Australia Pty Ltd.; EAC Nutrition Ltd. A/S (Denmark); International Nutrition Co. Ltd. A/S (Denmark); Central Laboratories Friedrichsdorf GmbH (Germany); Numico Trading B.V. (Netherlands); Numico Beheer B.V. (Netherlands); Numico Research B.V. (Netherlands); Numico Nederland B.V. (Netherlands); Nutricia International B.V. (Netherlands); Nutricia Export B.V. (Netherlands).
Principal Competitors
Nestlé S.A.; Kraft Foods Inc.; General Mills, Inc.; PepsiCo, Inc.; The Coca-Cola Company.
Further Reading
Ball, Deborah, "Danone Toes Independent Line," Wall Street Journal, January 27, 2004, p. B4.
Ball, Deborah, and Jason Singer, "Danone's Deal for Numico Is Bid for Independence and Expansion," Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2007, p. A3.
Barrett, Amy, "Danone Is Selling Its Beer Assets to S&N," Wall Street Journal Europe, March 21, 2000, p. 5.
Bickerton, Ian, and Adam Jones, "Danone Makes EUR 12bn Move for Numico," Financial Times, July 10, 2007, p. 26.
Browning, E. S., "BSN Agrees to Sell Two Champagnes to Moet Vuitton," Wall Street Journal, December 10, 1990, p. A8.
------, "BSN Finds Eastern Europe Expansion Hard to Swallow," Wall Street Journal, January 5, 1993, p. B4.
"BSWho?" Economist, May 14, 1994, p. 70.
Clevstrom, Jenny, "France's Danone Hungers to Acquire, but Its Portfolio May Make It a Target," Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2006, pp. C1, C4.
La construction du Groupe: 30 ans de passion, Paris: Groupe Danone, 1996, 55 p.
"Danone Group: Feeding the Pacific Century Consumer," Institutional Investor, November 1995, p. C5.
Dawkins, William, "BSN in Takeover of Asian Nabisco," Financial Times, March 9, 1990, p. 28.
De Jonquieres, Guy, "Dynastic Hopes Fall Flat in France," Financial Times, March 25, 1992, p. 18.
Delaney, Kevin J., "Danone Plans to Restructure Biscuit Business," Wall Street Journal Europe, January 11, 2001, p. 4.
Deogun, Nikhil, and Shelly Branch, "Danone to Buy 40% Stake in Stonyfield Farm of U.S.," Wall Street Journal Europe, October 4, 2001, p. 5.
Edmondson, Gail, Ian Katz, and Elisabeth Malkin, "Danone Hits Its Stride: Franck Riboud Is Turning the French Food Titan into a World-Beater," Business Week, February 1, 1999, pp. 52+.
Foster, Lauren, and Adam Jones, "Danone Chief Plays a 'Beautiful' Game," Financial Times, July 31, 2006, p. 21.
"Franck Riboud Tries to Keep Danone Independent," Economist, November 19, 2005, p. 70.
"Friend or Foe?" Economist, February 29, 1992, p. 77.
Gleason, Mark, "Dannon Water Springs into U.S.," Advertising Age, January 15, 1996, p. 6.
Goad, G. Pierre, "Groupe BSN's Buyout of Joint Venture Simplifies Food Maker's Recipe in Asia," Wall Street Journal, August 9, 1993, p. B5A.
Housego, David, "BSN Finds Its Gateway to the East," Financial Times, February 22, 1990, p. 38.
Jack, Andrew, "Danone to Book FRF 1bn Gain on Disposals," Financial Times, October 10, 1997, p. 28.
Kamm, Thomas, "French Danone Agrees to Buy Water Unit of McKesson," Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2000, p. A16.
Koselka, Rita, "A Tight Ship," Forbes, July 20, 1992, p. 141.
Lubove, Seth, "Perched Between Perrier and Tap," Forbes, May 14, 1990, p. 120.
McGrane, Sally, "Danone Cuts Out the Cookies," Time, October 18, 2007.
McKay, Betsy, and Robert Frank, "Coca-Cola, Danone to Form Venture for Bottled Water," Wall Street Journal Europe, June 18, 2002, p. A4.
"The MT Interview: Franck Riboud," Management Today, August 1, 2006, p. 38.
Owen, David, "Son to Succeed Chairman at Danone," Financial Times, May 3, 1996, p. 22.
Racanelli, Vito J., "L'eau Valuation?" Barron's, November 18, 2002, pp. 23-24, 26.
Rawsthorn, Alice, "Gloves Come Off in Fight for Exor," Financial Times, February 24, 1992, p. 17.
Ridding, John, "BSN Puts New Name on the Table: Danone Wants to Expand Across the Globe," Financial Times, May 11, 1994, p. 31.
Rosenbaum, Andrew, "BSN Challenging Nestlé, Unilever," Advertising Age, June 25, 1990, p. 37.
Spencer, Mimosa, "Danone May Sell Cookie Division for $7.22 Billion," Wall Street Journal Europe, July 4, 2007, p. 5.
Tagliabue, John, "A Corporate Son Remakes Danone: By Focusing on Best-Selling Brands, French Food Maker Grows Globally," New York Times, April 1, 1998, p. D1.
Terhune, Chad, "Coke to Buy Danone's Stake in Bottled-Water Joint Venture," Wall Street Journal, April 25, 2005, p. B4.
Torres, Félix, and Pierre Labasse, Mémoire de Danone: Barcelone, Paris, New York, Paris: Le Cherche midi, 2003, 119 p.
Toy, Stewart, "The Son Also Rises at Danone: As Chairman, Franck Riboud Will Keep Up the Push Overseas," Business Week, May 20, 1996, p. 21.
Willman, John, and Samer Iskander, "Ahead of the Crowd: Profile of Franck Riboud, Chairman and Chief Executive of Danone," Financial Times, January 4, 1999, p. 14.
Woodruff, David, "France's Danone Advances at Full Speed," Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2000, p. A15.
Wrighton, Jo, "Paris Leaps to Defense of Danone Against Pepsi," Wall Street Journal, July 21, 2005, p. A9.
— Updated by David E. Salamie
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