Canadian dairy company Saputo has agreed to acquire Shepherd Gourmet Dairy, an Ontario-based manufacturer of speciality cheeses and yogurts.
The value of the transaction is CAD 100 million ($77.7 million) and includes Shepherd Gourmet’s lone manufacturing facility in St. Marys, Ontario, 90 miles west of Toronto. The business employs approximately 90 people.
Shepherd Gourmet manufactures, markets and distributes a variety of speciality cheeses – including feta and sheep’s milk ricotta – as well as yogurts and Icelandic-style skyr. For the 12 months to the end of April, the company generated revenues of approximately CAD 57 million ($33.2 million).
Saputo said the acquisition would allow it to “increase its presence in speciality cheese and expand its yogurt offering in Canada.”
Shepherd Gourmet is an arm’s length from Saputo’s previous M&A mainstay of goat’s milk processors, but its position in dairy products based on sheep’s milk will allow Saputo to carve out a new niche within the speciality dairy market.
It is complementary to the previous acquisitions of American goat’s cheese producer Montchevre in 2017 and Ontario-based goat’s cheese company Woolwich Dairy in 2015.
The deal comes little more than six months after Montréal-based Saputo announced its intention to acquire struggling Australian dairy company Murray Goulbourn for $1 billion.
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