BROOMFIELD, Colo.-
Hain Celestial Group Inc. said Wednesday it will purchase WhiteWave Foods Co.’s tofu and meat-alternative business to expand its product line.
The products sold under the brand names of TofuTown and WhiteWave are manufactured in Boulder. The 50 or so employees there will be offered positions by Hain Celestial, WhiteWave spokeswoman Molly Keveney said.
Hain Celestial said the sale excluded the WhiteWave trademark but it will continue to offer the products under that brand during a transitional period. The acquisition is expected to close in June although terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“Purchasing this business will better position the company to increase our meat-free alternative product sales in Canada and the United States,” Irwin D. Simon, Hain Celestial’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
By shedding the meat-alternative business, WhiteWave will be able to focus on its core line of dairy products, which ranges from Horizon and Silk to International Delight, Keveney said.
Based in Melville, N.Y., Hain Celestial is a natural and organic products company whose offerings include Boulder-based Celestial Seasonings. Hain Celestial’s stock fell 17 cents to $28.52 a share in afternoon trading.
WhiteWave, headquartered in this Denver suburb, is a subsidiary of Dallas-based Dean Foods Co. Dean Foods’ stock dipped 6 cents to $32.09 a share in afternoon trading.
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