MILWAUKEE, March 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department's Antitrust Division said Dean Foods Co. has agreed to divest a milk processing plant to settle antitrust concerns.
The department said Dean Foods will divest a "significant" milk processing plant in Waukesha, Wis., it acquired with the purchase of Foremost Farms USA Cooperative in April 2009.
The purchase was made without prior notice to the Antitrust Division, which began to investigate its influence on milk prices after the deal closed.
Dean Food also has agreed to notify antitrust regulators of future purchases of milk plants valued at more than $3 million, the Justice Department said.
Tuesday's settlement will "restore competition so that school children and consumers in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan will pay lower prices for their milk," said Christine Varney, assistant attorney general in charge of the Antitrust Division.
"The divestiture of a significant milk processing plant and the provision that requires Dean to notify the department of future milk plant acquisitions will ensure that competition remains in this important industry," she said.
The 2009 purchase included a dairy processing plant in De Pere, Wis., that will remain in Dean's control. However, Dean Foods, one of the largest food and beverage producers in the United States, will give up the Golden Guernsey brand name.
Dean Foods had revenues of about $12 billion in 2010, the Justice Department said in a statement.
