Almost six years after Jean Valvis sold Dorna mineral waters to Coca-Cola, the businessman has conducted his second major exit, selling his dairy business.

Valvis, the creator of the Dorna brands, has sold the LaDorna dairy business to French-based global giant Lactalis, in a deal worth 70-90 million euros. The takeover was signed on April 16 and marks the second exit from the Dorna business (mineral waters and dairy products), which was created by Valvis, a Swiss entrepreneur with roots in Greece, who first came to Romania in 1992. Valvis sold Dorna to Coca-Cola a few years ago for 40 million euros.

Lactalis is the world's second-largest dairy producer and first on the European market, with an annual volume of 10 billion euros. LaDorna is one of top five dairy companies in Romania.

The Lactalis name has been used in connection with a number of independent players in the domestic industry over the last few years, which were said to be up for sale. With the acquisition of LaDorna, the French at Lactalis have directly entered a one billion-euro Romanian market, whose medium-term potential is 3 or 4 billion euros.

"The deal was done relatively quickly; in January we signed a memorandum of understanding and closed the deal on April 16. The transaction will be subject to the Competition Council's approval. The talks weren't easy, especially because this is a complex deal whereby I sold Dorna SA, Dorna Lactate, and Dorna Helas, the distribution company established in Greece," Jean Valvis told ZF.

Valvis would not reveal any details about the value of the deal.

However, according to ZF's estimates, the deal is worth somewhere between 70 and 90 million euros, considering that the exit also entailed the sale of the distribution company in Greece. LaDorna ended last year with turnover worth 38 million euros, which is close to the 2006 le