Dean Foods Files Bankruptcy With Potential Buyer Lined Up (1)

Top U.S. milk processor Dean Foods Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is in advanced talks with Dairy Farmers of America Inc. about a potential sale.

Dean listed assets and liabilities of as much as $10 billion each in court papers filed in Houston, and said in a statement it has commitments for $850 million in bankruptcy financing from existing lenders led by Rabobank. The filing allows Dean to keep operating while it works on a plan to pay creditors and turn the business around.

Losses have piled up after Dean’s biggest customer, Walmart Inc., built its ...