Dean Foods Nixes Stalking-Horse Deal, Dairy Co-Op Will Still Bid

Dean Foods Co. abandoned a deal to make Dairy Farmers of America the lead bidder for its assets after resistance from creditors and its bankruptcy judge, court papers show.

• DFA, a dairy co-op, still intends to bid on Dean’s assets despite losing the so-called stalking horse position, Mitchell Seider of Latham & Watkins LLP said in a telephonic hearing Thursday
  • Seider says continuing conversations with the U.S. Justice Department have made DFA “optimistic” that its bid won’t be blocked on antitrust grounds
• U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David R. Jones approves new sale rules that set a bid deadline of March ...