Agropur to double U.S. processing business

Longueuil, Que. – Less than a week since its latest acquisition was announced, Agropur Cooperative has acquired the dairy processing assets of Davisco Foods International, a Le Sueur, Minn.-based cheese and dairy ingredients company.

The company says the acquisition will double Agropur’s U.S. processing operations and its global milk intake. The move also strengthens the company’s position in the international dairy market.

Davisco is a family-owned business that processes 1.7-billion L of milk, more than 170 million kg of cheese and 80 million kg of whey ingredients annually.

The agreement includes three Davisco cheese processing plants in Le Sueur, Minn. Jerome, Idaho and Lake Norden, S.D., as well as an ingredients facility in Nicollet, Minn. and a cheese shop in Le Sueur. Also included are sales offices in Eden Prairie, Minn., China, Singapore and Geneva, and distribution centres in Rotterdam and Tianjin, China.

“With over US$1 billion in annual sales, this acquisition is by far the largest transaction in Agropur’s 76-year history,” said Agropur president Serge Riendeau, in making the announcement.

“This transaction, combined with the most recent ones in Canada, will increase our sales to over CDN$5.8 billion (US$5.4 billion) on an annualized basis, and we should reach 5.3-billion L (12.1 billion lbs) of milk processed each year in 41 plants across North America. As a result of this acquisition, the U.S. operations of Agropur should reach the top five cheese and ingredients processors in the United States to even better serve its clients.”

The acquisition will also boost Agropur’s increasing global presence.

“One of our key business objectives is to pursue strategic acquisitions to diversify our geographic markets and product portfolios,” noted Agropur CEO Robert Coallier. “This acquisition, like our other recent ones, will help solidify the development and sustainability of our cooperative by securing a favourable strategic positioning at all national, North American and global levels. To remain a leader in our field, we must pursue and continue development efforts that aim directly at profitable growth.”