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WISCONSIN'S GOLDEN GUERSEY DAIRY PROCESSOR FILES CHAPTER 7
Jan. 10, 2013
BrownfieldAgNews reports:
Golden Guernsey dairy in Waukesha, Wisconsin has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in Delaware.
OpenGate Capital, the Los Angeles equity firm which owns the plant shut it down last weekend.
In a statement, OpenGate CEO Andrew Nikou said, "We have to make realistic decisions about our investments, and the reality is that the Golden Guernsey business was unable to achieve financial autonomy given the pressure to lower prices and seemingly nonnegotiable operating expenses."
OpenGate says Golden Guernsey's sales were up 20% since it acquired the company from Dean Foods in 2011. "However, as Golden Guernsey was suffering under the pressure to meet demands for lower-cost products, it was unable to successfully reduce its expenses in a way to achieve a state of financial viability given some of its legacy relationships."
Nikou says the company tried to get suppliers, vendors and its labor union to reduce costs. "The prospect of closing the plant and the potential for bankruptcy was raised on several occasions with these groups."
On Tuesday, a former employee of the plant filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development saying the company provided no warning before closing the plant. More than 100 people were employed at Golden Guernsey. State law requires a 60-day notice when a layoff of that many people is going to occur.
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