Saputo, Canada’s biggest dairy processor, plans to expand its U.S. cheese division by buying Wisconsin’s Alto Dairy Co-operative.
Alto, based in Waupun, northeast of Madison, makes both Italian- and American-style cheeses including mozzarella, provolone, cheddar, gouda and Monterey Jack, for food service and industrial markets, as well as the premium Italian-style brand Alto Bello for foodservice customers. It also makes whey and milk replacer products.
The company, run by a dairy farmers’ co-op, operates cheese plants in Waupun and at Black Creek (west of Green Bay), employing over 450 people between them. Alto posted US$378 million in sales in fiscal 2007.
Montreal-based Saputo has operated plants in the U.S. since 1988 and bought a California industrial cheese operation from Land O’Lakes last spring. It will finance its US$160 million cash offer for Alto by drawing on available lines of credit, the company said in a release Tuesday.
Saputo said its offer already has approval from Alto’s board of directors, but still depends on approval from the co-op’s voting members at a meeting scheduled for Feb. 27.
