Actus Nutrition Acquires Protein Facility from Foremost Farms USA

(BUSINESS WIRE) -- Actus Nutrition (“Actus”), a leading vertically-integrated nutritional ingredients manufacturer and portfolio company of Butterfly Equity (“Butterfly”), today finalized an agreement to purchase a 99,000 sq. ft. processing facility from Foremost Farms USA (“Foremost Farms”). The facility, located in Sparta, WI, currently manufactures whey protein products, which Actus will continue producing at the location. As part of the deal, Actus and Foremost Farms will begin a long-term exclusive, network wide whey protein partnership supporting growth for both organizations. Actus plans to invest significant capital into the facility to increase capacity and expand its capabilities.

“We’ll be able to hit the ground running because we can plug the Sparta facility into our existing manufacturing network without a lot of changes,” said David Lenzmeier, CEO of Actus Nutrition. “The facility will provide added capacity that will help us better meet the insatiable global demand for whey protein, while further positioning Actus to meet the needs of our existing customers.”

“Foremost Farms and Actus have a strong relationship that goes back many years, and this extends our partnership in new directions,” said Declan Roche, Chief Commercial Officer for Foremost Farms USA. “This scenario creates a win-win, enabling Foremost Farms to streamline its operations while continuing to maximize value for the cooperative members through a long-term strategic partner.”

The Sparta location is the company’s seventh manufacturing facility in Wisconsin. Actus also operates manufacturing sites in Minnesota, Nebraska, California, Idaho, and Illinois. Actus plans to extend offers of employment to the current active team members at the facility as part of its launch under new ownership. Additional hiring is anticipated to support operational needs and future growth. The parties expect to close the acquisition before the end of May.

“We are pleased that this sale will allow Foremost Farms to continue to focus on its core business,” said Joel Eigenbrood, Chairman of the Board of Directors for Foremost Farms USA. “We appreciate the contributions made by our Sparta employees and we look forward to working with Actus to create more value for our patron farmers.”

About Actus Nutrition®

Actus Nutrition is a manufacturer of nutritional ingredients for the health and wellness, performance nutrition and functional food industries, with facilities in WI, MN, NE, IL, ID and CA. The core of Actus Nutrition’s business is in high protein ingredients (whey protein concentrates, isolates and hydrolysates, as well as milk protein concentrates, isolates and micellar casein), lactose and permeate as well as value added ingredients such as lactoferrin. Actus Nutrition also has a significant presence within the pet and livestock feed industries. Additional information about Actus Nutrition can be found at Actus.com.

About Foremost Farms USA®

Foremost Farms USA® is a dairy cooperative representing hundreds of Midwest dairy farmer members located across seven Midwest states, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin – America’s Dairyland. It is one of the largest, leading dairy cooperatives in the United States and a major food manufacturing business.

About Butterfly

Butterfly is a Los Angeles, California-based private equity firm that invests exclusively in the $26 trillion food sector. Butterfly is a leading “seed to fork” food ecosystem investor in North America and seeks to generate consistent investment returns through deep sector expertise, a data-driven investment process, and an operations-driven approach to value creation. Since its founding in 2016, the firm has invested in a diverse portfolio of category-leading businesses representing approximately $8 billion in enterprise value including The Duckhorn Portfolio, Rise Baking Company, Actus Nutrition, Chosen Foods, MaryRuth Organics, Pete and Gerry’s, Orgain, Generous Brands, Bolthouse Fresh Foods, QDOBA, and Pacifico Aquaculture. To learn more, please visit https://www.bfly.com/.

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