February 17/Montreal/Marketwire -- Saputo Inc. signed an agreement to acquire Fairmount Cheese Holdings Inc., the parent company of DCI Cheese Company Inc. (DCI). DCI is one of the largest specialty cheese marketers in the United States; it sells and distributes specialty cheese from the cut and wrap facility located in Green Bay, Wis., and from the Carlstadt, N.J., distribution center. DCI holds a portfolio of import licenses for specialty cheese manufactured abroad and also manufactures and sells in the retail market other products such as spreads, salsa, hummus and dips from the Santa Rosa, Cal., facility. DCI has a total of approximately 475 employees.

For the year ended December 31, 2010, DCI had sales of about $460 million, EBITDA of approximately $34 million and sales volumes of about 160 million pounds.

The purchase price of $270.5 million on a debt-free basis will be paid in cash from liquidity and/or by drawing on available lines of credit. The transaction is subject to usual conditions (including regulatory approval) and is expected to close in the course of March 2011.

From the February 21, 2011, Prepared Foods E-dition