Generational Equity, an advisor to privately-held and family-owned businesses for exit planning, business valuation, and mergers-and-acquisition services, has announced the sale of their client, Wisconsin Farmers Union Specialty Cheese Co. LLC (WFUSCC) to Arthur Schuman, Inc.(ASI) of Fairfield, NJ. ASI plans to continue production of cheese from Wisconsin milk at the Montfort plant in southwest Wisconsin. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
Wisconsin Farmers Union, based in Montfort, WI was founded in 1930 by Wisconsin farmers. The goal was to enhance the economic and social well being of farm families in America's Dairyland by adding value to milk produced by Wisconsin farmers and to make the finest Wisconsin cheeses directly available to consumers from farmers.
ASI is a 60-year-old, family-owned company based in Fairfield, New Jersey with cheese processing facilities in Fairfield and Elgin, Illinois. The company is the nation’s largest producer of hard and semi-hard cheeses as well as the largest importer of hard cheeses. ASI been the exclusive distributor of Wisconsin Farmers Union Montforte Bleu and Gorgonzola cheeses since January 2009 and will continue to operate the Montfort, Wisconsin plant with no major changes in regards to the plant or the employees.
"The WFUSCC board of managers felt now was the appropriate time to sell the company and focus on the Wisconsin Farmers Union mission and main purpose, and the needs of its members" Sue Beitlich, WFUSCC president, said in a press release. "The sale of the cheese company will allow more time and resources to be put toward the general farm organization to improve the quality of life for family farmers and rural communities."
Generational Equity’s Managing Director, Michael Murzyn led in marketing and negotiating the transaction. “We hosted five meetings with potential acquirers but it was quite apparent that ASI clearly recognized the high quality characteristics of the products made by WFUSCC and determined that their well-established marketing channels serving the institutional and food service markets could effectively increase demand for the award-winning blue cheese and Gorgonzola products,” said Murzyn. “In fact, additional land was acquired in order to expand the production capacity of the WFUSCC plant.”
The transaction between Wisconsin Farmers Union Specialty Cheese Co. and ASI was complete in June 2009.
Generational Equity is one of the nation’s leading middle-market mergers and acquisitions companies, providing private business owners with the information and expertise they require to exit their business successfully. A unique, four-phase approach that includes education, financial analysis and reporting, sales documentation and deal-making ability combine to offer business owners an unparalleled level of commitment and experience, all focused on helping to release the generational equity and wealth in every business. Generational Equity has over 250 professionals nationwide with headquarters in Dallas, TX. For more information, contact Generational Equity at (877) 213-1792 or infous@genequityco.com or visit www.genequityco.com.