Cleary, Weil, Darrois Advise on General Mills $2.1B Sale of Yogurt Business to French Companies

The Minnesota-based consumer foods multinational is selling the U.S. and Canada operations, whose brands include Yoplait, Liberté, Go-Gurt, and Mountain High, among others, as well as its manufacturing facilities in Tennessee, Michigan, and Québec. Collectively, the North American yogurt business contributed about $1.5 billion to General Mills’ fiscal 2024 net sales.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton is the lead counsel for General Mills, while Weil, Gotshal & Manges is leading for Lactalis, the French dairy multinational acquiring General Mills’ U.S. yogurt assets.

Cleary’s team is led by M&A partners Charlie Allen and Paul Shim. It also includes antitrust partner Brian Byrne, executive compensation and employee benefits partners Julia Petty and Alan Levine, environmental partner Beau Sterling, IP partner Daniel Ilan, real estate partner Dan Reynolds, and securities partner Lillian Tsu.

Weil said Paris-based corporate partner Yannick Piette leads its deal team for Lactalis with New York partner Eoghan Keenan.

Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier’s Sodiaal team is led by corporate partner Hugo Diener and also includes tax partner Vincent Agulhon, antitrust partner Didier Théophile, and finance partner Martin Lebeuf.

Ropes & Gray is representing Sodiaal as intellectual property transactions counsel and U.S. M&A counsel. The firm’s team includes IP transactions partner Erica Han.

Stikeman Elliott is advising Sodiaal on the transaction’s Canadian aspects of the deal. Its team includes M&A partners David Weinberg and Antoine Champagne, IT and privacy partner Shawn Smith, tax partner Nathaniel Lacasse, IP partner Jonathan Auerbach, competition partner Michael Laskey, and regulatory partner Sara Zborovski, among others.

Blake, Cassels & Graydon is advising on Canadian regulatory aspects, and PwC on Canadian tax aspects, Darrois said. 

Law.com International has reached out to Blakes and PwC. 

General Mills said the divestitures will help it focus on brands that have stronger growth prospects and more attractive margins. The transactions, expected to close in 2025, are subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.