The Justice Department on Tuesday said it will require ConAgra
Foods Inc., Cargill Inc. and CHS Inc. to divest four flour mills in
order to complete the formation of a milling joint venture.
The department, which had been investigating the plan since
July, said its antitrust division Tuesday filed a civil lawsuit to
block the formation of the venture--to be called Ardent Mills--but
it said it also posted a proposed settlement that would resolve its
competitive concerns.
The government is seeking the divestiture of flour mills in
northern California, southern California, northern Texas and the
upper Midwest. The companies had previously said they were prepared
to divest four flour-milling facilities in those regions in order
to consummate the joint venture.
ConAgra Mills and Horizon Milling--itself a joint venture of
Cargill and CHS, formed in 2002--had agreed early last year to form
Ardent Mills with the goal of completing the formation in the first
quarter of this year.
However, ConAgra pushed its projection back into the second
quarter amid regulatory delays. In February, ConAgra--which makes
Peter Pan peanut butter and Hunt's ketchup, among other well-known
food brands--lowered its outlook for the fiscal year ending in May,
citing the Ardent Mills delays as a reason.
Ardent Mills is poised to be the biggest player in the
flour-milling industry, with projections pegging it as controlling
about a third of the U.S. milling market by capacity.
Write to Michael Calia at michael.calia@wsj.com
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