The assets of Dean Foods have been allocated in bankruptcy court, with most of them going to Dairy Farmers of America.
DFA will take over 44 of Dean’s processing plants, paying $433 million. Eight additional plants and other properties will go to Prairie Farms Dairy. Individual purchasers will take two more plants, while Dean’s Uncle Matt’sorganic juice business will go to Harmoni Inc.
A bid for Dean’s assets was conducted in federal bankruptcy court for the Southern District of Texas. Dean, the largest U.S. processor of fluid milk, filed for bankruptcy in November, done in partly by declining milk consumption.
DFA, America’s largest milk supplier, had been the leading candidate for Dean since the bankruptcy, although its official status as the first bidder was removedin late March. DFA’s original bid was $425 million.
The deal still must pass muster with federal authorities, who reportedly were looking into possible antitrust implications of a Dean-DFA deal.
