Wellington - New Zealand's Fonterra Co-operative Group - the world's biggest single exporter of dairy products - announced Tuesday that it is taking its stake in Chile's Soprole company to 99.4 per cent.

Fonterra, which already owns 56.85 per cent of Soprole, said it will buy an additional 42.6 per cent shareholding from Fundacion Isabel Aninat, a Roman Catholic charitable foundation controlled by the Vatican, for 201.9 million US dollars.

Fonterra said that final details of the deal were expected to be completed over the next few days.

Fonterra chief executive Andrew Ferrier said that Soprole had more than one-third of Chile's domestic consumer dairy market and was the country's second-most recognized corporate brand after Coca-Cola.

He said that Soprole announced in February a 160-per-cent increase in profits for 2007 to a record 23.8 billion Chilean pesos.

Under terms of the deal, Fonterra will have 86.2 per cent of Prolesur, Soprole's southern manufacturing subsidiary, while the Fundacion Isabel Aninat retains its 13.6 per cent stake.

Fonterra is the fifth-largest dairy company in the world and exports to 140 countries. (dpa)