Ropes & Gray Advises Sodiaal in General Mills Sale of North American Yogurt Businesses

Ropes & Gray represented Sodiaal, France’s leading dairy cooperative and owner of the Yoplait yogurt brand, as IP transactions counsel and US M&A counsel in an agreement to acquire General Mills’ Canadian yogurt business.

The agreement among Sodiaal, General Mills and Lactalis — owner of the Stonyfield and Siggi’s yogurt brands – was announced Sept. 12 in a press release. General Mills has agreed to sell its U.S. yogurt business to Lactalis and its Canadian yogurt business to Sodiaal in a combined $2 billion deal, and Sodiaal will license its Yoplait brand to Lactalis in the United States.

As France’s leading dairy cooperative (accounting for 20% of collected milk), Sodiaal boasts over 15,300 member producers across 8,523 farms in 72 departments. This transaction strengthens Sodiaal’s FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) division, with a well-balanced portfolio of diversified and successful brands under the Yoplait and Liberté brands.

The team included IP transactions partner Erica Han and IP transactions associate Dan Freshman.