Mengniu, one of China's three dairy giants, announced yesterday that it had set up a joint venture with Hubei's largest dairy, Wuhan Youzhiyou, China Business News reports. The venture has a total investment of 290 million yuan (US$36.3 million), of which 52% was contributed by Mengniu in cash and 48% by Youzhiyou in land, equipment, and personnel. Wuhan Youzhiyou thus becomes a holding company, with management and sales of the Youzhiyou brand being absorbed by Mengniu.Rival dairy Yili had made a prior play for Youzhiyou, with talks dragging on for a year and a half without reaching a resolution, reportedly because Yili felt that Youzhiyou lacked sufficient dairy resources. Mengniu approached Youzhiyou on 30 October last year, and reportedly sealed the deal within 10 hours. Link: http://dycj.ynet.com/article.jsp?oid=7300245