Schreiber Foods has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire Dean Foods’ customer-brand yogurt business. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2011.

“We’re thrilled about this opportunity to expand our rapidly growing yogurt business,” says Mike Haddad, president and CEO of Schreiber Foods. “Yogurt is a dynamic and exciting category that will play an integral role in Schreiber’s mission to be the world’s leading customer-brand dairy company. We’re deep into many strategic initiatives aimed at advancing our yogurt capabilities, and this acquisition will enable us to create additional value for our customers by offering a coast-to-coast network of yogurt production and distribution facilities.”

The proposed acquisition includes production facilities in Fullerton, Calif., and Richland Center, Wis., as well as yogurt production assets from Dean Foods’ facility in Friendship, N.Y. Further details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Green Bay, Wis., Schreiber is an employee-owned dairy company with annual sales of more than $4 billion. Schreiber sells its products, which include cream cheese, natural cheese, process cheese and yogurt, to leading retailers, restaurants, distributors and food manufacturers around the world. Schreiber has manufacturing, distribution and sales facilities in the United States, Austria, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Mexico and Uruguay.

Dean Foods is one of the leading food and beverage companies in the United States and a European leader in branded soy foods and beverages. The company's Fresh Dairy Direct-Morningstar segment is the largest U.S. processor and distributor of milk, creamer and cultured dairy products. These offerings are marketed under more than 50 local and regional dairy brands, as well as through private labels. The WhiteWave-Alpro segment produces and sells an array of branded dairy, soy and plant-based beverages and foods. WhiteWave brands, including Silk soy and almond milk, Horizon Organic milk and dairy products, International Delight coffee creamers, and Land O’Lakes creamers, are category leaders and consumer favorites. Alpro is the pan-European leader in branded soy food products.