Select, Continental Dairy Co-ops Merge

Source: Select Milk Producers, Inc. and Continental Dairy Products, Inc.

Select Milk Producers, Inc. and Continental Dairy Products, Inc., cooperative milk marketing associations, announced their merger today, effective September 1, 2014. Select Milk
Producers, Inc., will be the surviving Cooperative.

Select, a New Mexico cooperative and Continental, an Ohio cooperative, both have principal administrative offices in Artesia, New Mexico. Both co-ops have benefitted from their joint association over a number of years. They have also served common customers.

Mike McCloskey, CEO, stated that the merger facilitates milk marketing strategies, eliminates market confusion with regard to identity by presenting one "face" to the market, and expands geographic coverage and influence for the combined entity. The ultimate goal of Select is to provide its producers a competitive pay-price while creating long-term value for its owners.

Select will continue to grow its organic production in tandem with our customers’ needs in a competitively sustainable way. The merger additionally expands future borrowing capacities, decreases financing costs, provides access to capital markets and creates increased potential for expanding the customer base of the combined operations.

Select’s members prior to the merger consisted of 61 large dairy farms, which collectively own approximately 136,000 milking cows and produce about 4.3 billion pounds of milk annually. Its customer base is a combination of local cheese plants and Class I fluid milk plants in New Mexico and Texas.

Continental’s members prior to the merger consisted of 36 large dairy farms, which collectively own approximately 76,000 milking cows and produce about 2 billion pounds of milk annually. Its members are located in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.

Both cooperatives are managed by the same executive team from the Artesia, New Mexico headquarters.