Thursday, January 28, 2010

Dean Foods Defends Market Power in Lawsuits All Over U.S.

http://www.law.com/jsp/cc/PubArticleCC.jsp?id=1202439592732&Theyre_Really_Milkin_It_Dean_Foods_Defends_Market_Power_in_Lawsuits_All_Over_US

Perhaps a critical mass is developing.

Looks like federal and private antitrust regulators have milk on the brain. Dean Foods Co., the nation's largest dairy processor, is now defending three antitrust lawsuits, the latest one in Wisconsin. While private suits are pending in Tennessee and Vermont brought by dairy farmers, the latest accuser is the federal government.

On Jan. 22, the Department of Justice, along with state attorneys general from Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, brought antitrust charges against Dean Foods in federal court in Milwaukee. The suit challenges Dean Foods' acquisition of two milk processing plants from competitor Foremost Farms, arguing the purchase has undermined competition and left many school districts in the three states with a monopoly milk provider.

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