US food manufacturer General Mills has entered an agreement to acquire Dean Foods’ Mountain High Yoghurt business and brand.
The company announced on Friday (19 November) that Mountain High will become part of General Mills’ Yoplait USA division.
“Mountain High is an exceptional all-natural yoghurt brand that brings with it a strong heritage of quality,” said Becky O’Grady, president of General Mills’ Yoplait division. “We are excited about this opportunity to double our large-size yoghurt business with this strong brand – and we are committed to maintaining the great-tasting, all-natural Mountain High Yoghurt products that consumers love.”
The deal is expected to be completed early in 2011. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.
General Mills has held the US licence for Yoplait since 1977, but is currently in arbitration with one of Yoplait’s owners, Sodiaal, which wants to end the agreement.
Analysts have recently speculated around the ability of Dean Foods to meet its debt agreements and have suggested it might need to dispose of its WhiteWave-Alpro division to pay down the debt.
