The French food company Danone has announced that it will fully acquire the American food retailer Lifeway Foods for $283.4 million. Danone already holds approximately 23 percent of the shares in Lifeway Foods and is offering shareholders $25 per share for the remaining shares.

The transaction is to be fully financed with cash from existing reserves and, according to a statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is not dependent on further financing requirements. Danone has stated that it is currently in talks with Lifeway regarding the planned acquisition.

However, the company emphasized that the final terms of the takeover offer could still be subject to change and that there was no guarantee of a successful completion of the transaction.

On the stock market, Lifeway Foods shares reacted with a strong increase of 25.53 percent, temporarily reaching 26.99 US dollars in NASDAQ trading. Danone shares closed 0.74 percent higher at 65.42 euros on EURONEXT Paris.