Industrial Realty Group terminates deal to acquire Meadow Gold Hawaii

Industrial Realty Group has terminated the agreement to purchase Dean Foods’ Meadow Gold Hawaii business.

First announced on 1 April, the deal included the assets, rights, interests and properties relating to Dean Foods’ Hilo and Honolulu facilities.

Following the termination of the agreement, Dean Foods intends to close operations at its Honolulu facility by 30 April.

Dean Foods president and CEO Eric Beringause said: “We are extremely disappointed that we were unable to finalise an agreement for Industrial Realty Group to acquire our Hawaii operations.

“This was a difficult decision but, ultimately, given the timeline of our Chapter 11 restructuring, we were not able to find a path forward that would enable our Honolulu operations to continue through our comprehensive court-supervised sale process.

“That said, we are pleased to have reached an agreement in principle for our Hilo facility and that an interested party intends to continue the plant’s operations and maintain the Meadow Gold Hawaii brand name.

“I want to thank our employees for their hard work, dedication and patience throughout this challenging process. We are grateful for their commitment to our customers and our company.”

After the termination of the agreement, Dean Foods has reached an agreement in principle with an undisclosed firm for the sale of it Hilo Facility and related assets on the Big Island, Kauai and Maui as an ongoing business.

According to the new agreement, which is subject to final approval by the Bankruptcy Court, the interested firm will be acquiring assets, rights, interests and properties associated with Dean Foods’ Meadow Gold Hawaii business with the exception of the Honolulu facility.

Earlier this month, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) was named as the winning bidder to acquire a significant portion of Dean Foods’ operations in a court-supervised sale process.

The sale is part of bankrupt milk producer Dean Foods’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.

Subject to final approval by the Bankruptcy Court, DFA will acquire assets, rights, interests and properties related to 44 Dean Foods’ fluid and frozen facilities for $433m.