--FILE--A Chinese customer buys Mengniu yoghurt in a supermarket in Shanghai, China, 21 May 2013. Chinas top milk producer China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd is buying a majority stake in smaller rival Yashili International Holdings Ltd., two people familiar with the transaction said. The deal will trigger a mandatory offer for shareholders in Hong Kong-listed Yashili, which has a market capitalization of $1.5 billion. Exactly how much Mengniu is buying wasnt immediately clear. Mengniu, the countrys largest milk producer by sales volume, has restructured itself since a 2008 scandal in which six babies were killed and hundreds sickened by melamine-tainted formula. The Chinese government has been pushing for an overhaul of the milk industry since then, with a focus on creating bigger farms. Firms like Mengniu have been bulking up their offerings and buying up their own farms so that they dont rely on third-party producers.
