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Australian billionaire Paul Lederer is in talks to sell Real Dairy Australia, the Sydney-based dairy business he built after his exit from the meat industry, to US food group Schreiber Foods, the Australian Financial Review reported on Sunday.
The terms of the potential deal were not disclosed. Neither Lederer nor Schreiber has commented publicly on the talks.
Real Dairy Australia is based in Greenacre, in Sydney's west, and also trades as Australian Dairy Packaging. It makes and packages dairy products, including dry and condensed products, and supplies retailers and food manufacturers.
A buyer with global reach
Schreiber Foods is one of the largest dairy companies in the United States. Founded in 1945 and based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, it makes natural, processed and cream cheese, yogurt and dairy drinks, mostly for restaurant chains, grocery retailers and food companies that sell them under their own brands. It has more than $7 billion in annual sales, employs over 9,000 people and has operations in North America, Europe and Asia.
Schreiber is owned by its employees. Buying Real Dairy would give it a manufacturing base in Australia, one of the world's major dairy-producing countries.
From bacon to milk
Lederer made his fortune in smallgoods. Primo was founded by his uncle, Andrew Lederer, a Hungarian immigrant who bought Sydney's Mayfair Ham Factory. Paul Lederer took over the business in 2004 after his uncle's death and built it into Australia's largest maker of bacon, ham and processed meats.
In 2014, Brazilian meat giant JBS agreed to buy Primo for $1.25 billion, or about A$1.45 billion at the time. Lederer stepped down as chief executive after the sale.
He then moved into dairy. Real Dairy became one of the main businesses in his food portfolio, which he holds through the Consolidated Real Foods Group, a company focused on food manufacturing, processing and foodservice distribution.
His wider fortune is managed through the Lederer Group, a single-family office in Sydney that invests in commercial property, manufacturing and financial assets in Australia and abroad. He is also chairman of LDR Capital, a private investment firm whose portfolio includes commercial property, listed real estate trusts, private debt and equity.
Outside business, Lederer is chairman and co-owner of the Western Sydney Wanderers, the A-League football club he helped buy while he was still running Primo.
Lederer was ranked 83rd on Australia's Top 250 Rich List in 2021, with an estimated fortune of A$1.42 billion. A sale of Real Dairy would mark his second major exit from a food business he built into a national player, and the second time a large foreign company has bought one of his businesses.
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