Agropur's acquisition of Davisco International includes three cheese processing factories and an ingredients plant.

 

LONGUEUIL, QUE. – Agropur, the largest dairy cooperative in Canada, has entered into an agreement to acquire Davisco International, Appleton, Wis. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“With over $1 billion in annual sales, this acquisition is by far the largest transaction in Agropur’s 76-year history,” said Serge Riendeau, president of Agropur. “This transaction, combined with the most recent ones in Canada, will increase our sales to over C$5.8 billion ($5.4 billion) on an annualized basis, and we should reach 5.3 billion liters (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 includes three Davisco cheese processing factories in Le Sueur, Minn., Jerome, Idaho, and Lake Norden, S.D. It also includes an ingredients plant in Nicollet, Minn.

“The world dairy industry is consolidating at an accelerated pace, and our acquisition of Davisco supports our objective of increasing our global presence,” said Robert Coallier, chief executive officer of Agropur. “One of our key business objectives is to pursue strategic acquisitions to diversify our geographic markets and product portfolios.”

Agropur and its management team have had a busy few weeks. On July 8 the cooperative entered into an agreement to acquire the acquisition of four manufacturing plants from the Canadian retailer Sobey’s Inc., Stellarton, N.S. The transaction totaled $356 million and included the licensing of the Lucerne trademark to Agropur for the production and distribution of fluid milk and cream.

On July 14, Agropur purchased the dairy assets of the Northumberland Dairy Cooperative for $67 million. The agreement includes a manufacturing plant, distribution centers and the cooperative’s brands.