[T]he privately owned Lactalis Group of France has purchased the Commonwealth Dairy, which employs about 150 people at its yogurt plant in Brattleboro.
Lactalis, which describes itself as the largest dairy products company in the world, said the deal closed Friday. It did not disclose the financial terms.
The 10-year-old Commonwealth Dairy is owned by Ehrmann AG of Germany. Based in Brattleboro, it has manufacturing plants there and in Casa Grande, Arizona, and it distributes yogurt and other products under the Green Mountain Creamery and Liebe brands. About 150 people work in the Arizona plant.
Darcy Zbinovec, CEO of Ehrmann US, who leads Commonwealth’s dairies in Vermont and Arizona, did not return calls Monday. Ehrmann built the plant with help from three partners in the Brattleboro area, Zbinovec said in an earlier interview.
Commonwealth has received an array of grants and loans through public sources, including $57,207 last year in Vermont Training Program grants from the Department of Economic Development, part of the Agency of Agency of Commerce & Community.
In late 2016, the company received more than $2 million in state and local funding and incentives, according to the Brattleboro Development Credit Corp. Commonwealth said it would be used for a $20 million manufacturing expansion to create 50 jobs. The funding includes more than $600,000 from the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive, $200,000 from the Vermont Training Program, and $1 million from the Windham County Economic Development Program over three years, BDCC said.
BDCC Executive Director Adam Grinold said he learned about the sale Monday.
“I’m sure they have done their due diligence and understand the value of the asset, and even the intangible value which is the Vermont brand,” he said. “The challenge in any business these days is workforce, and they have a talented workforce in that facility.”
Lactalis, which has its U.S. headquarters in Buffalo, New York, said it now has eight factories and more than 2,400 employees in the U.S., including Commonwealth Dairy. Its brands include Stoneyfield, Siggi’s, Galbani, President, Parmalat, Karoun, rondelé and Black Diamond. It purchased Stonyfield, based in New Hampshire, from the French company Danone for $875 million in 2017, according to Food Business News.
Brattleboro Town Manager Peter Elwell, who also learned of the sale Monday, noted that a sale can be a positive development.
After the owners of the Neenah Paper Plant announced they were selling the plant, a buyer called Long Falls Paperboard LLC from Washington state stepped in and bought it late last year. This year, Long Falls is expanding the plant.
“Just the fact that something like this pops up suddenly doesn’t mean it turns out to be bad,” Elwell said.
