SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A Brazilian appeals court confirmed on Monday that only private arbitration may decide whether France's Groupe Lactalis SA may proceed with the acquisition of dairy company Itambé Alimentos SA, according to court documents seen by Reuters.
An arbitration at the Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce will decide if the acquisition broke a former shareholders agreement in Itambé. The Brazilian dairy company was controlled by Vigor Alimentos SA, owned by Mexico's Grupo Lala SAB de CV <LALAB.MX>, and cooperative CCPR.
CCPR acquired the 50 percent stake owned by Vigor late last year, and soon after the first deal announced a second one, the sale of 100 percent of the company to the French group. Lala alleges the negotiation broke the shareholders agreement in Itambé.
(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Leslie Adler)
