Baraboo Wi Business

Flambeau Purchases Mastercraft Companies

Flambeau, Inc., Baraboo, WI, and Mastercraft Companies, Phoenix, AZ, completed an agreement for the purchase of Polycraft Industries, Inc. and Mastercraft Mold, Inc. - together Mastercraft Companies - by Flambeau for an undisclosed amount. Mastercraft Companies' Phoenix facilities and personnel will be focused on expanding Flambeau's pursuit of medical market and precision injection molded industrial market applications.

Flambeau currently offers a wide range of proprietary medical products including EMT/EMS boxes, first aid boxes, medical instrument boxes, and other products. Mastercraft Companies, an experienced mold-maker and contract manufacturer of precision injection molded products, has built a core business with OEM medical device market and medical disposable products. With its class 7 clean room manufacturing capabilities, extensive tool making knowledge and skills, and experienced engineering and production personnel Mastercraft has become a leading "go-to" solutions provider for high-quality precision injection-molded parts and assemblies.

Jason Sauey, CEO of Flambeau and President of Nordic Group, notes the integration of Mastercraft into Flambeau provides Flambeau with a solid platform for growth into medical markets. "Mastercraft has built a strong reputation and track record of serving a variety of medical market applications. We are excited to have added Mastercraft's skills and offerings in the medical market and look to expand our market reach with a wider offering of capabilities and footprint."

Continuing, Sauey adds "Mastercraft has a long history of building reliable and complex tools for precision injection molding applications. The Mastercraft people know how to build high quality molds. This capability is very important for a wide variety of medical and industrial applications requiring close tolerances and systematic quality."

Regarding the association with Flambeau through the merger of Mastercraft, Arle Rawlings, Mastercraft's owner and President, states"After a lot of consideration I am determined Flambeau was a good fit for the perpetuation of the business I started. I feel comfortable with the people at Flambeau and Nordic, and I am confident their approach to business will serve the people I worked with for many years well while the financial base and resources of Flambeau will provide for greater growth opportunities going forward."

Beginning in December, 1968, Rawlings started Mastercraft Companies with two leased rooms, a limited number of machines and two employees. Today, Mastercraft Companies utilizes two buildings with over 58,000 square feet and serves a variety of Fortune 500 customers with their precision mold-making and injection molded parts requirements. Mastercraft serves the precision injection mold building and molding needs for the medical, electronic, aerospace, military, consumer and industrial markets as well as automotive, packaging and point-of-sale. Many of these customers have come to rely on Mastercraft Companies' significant expertise in tool-building and molding technology. The extensive design, engineering, and tooling knowledge and capabilities of Flambeau and Mastercraft gained through the years of experience possessed by both Arle Rawlings and Nordic Group will combine to create a formidable design and tooling resource under the Mastercraft name.

LegalNewsline | Company sells Wis. milk plant after court order

MADISON, Wis. (Legal Newsline) - Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced on Monday that Dean Foods Company has sold its Waukesha, Wis., milk processing plant as a result of a court order in a federal antitrust case.

Dean Foods sold its Waukesha Golden Guernsey milk processing plant to OpenGate Capital after Judge J.P. Stadtmueller of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin issued a final judgment ordering the saleThe antitrust case against the company was brought by the states of Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan and the U.S. Department of Justice.

The case and the March judgment resulted from a challenge to Dean Foods' 2009 acquisition of the Waukesha plant and other milk processing plants from Foremost Farms USA. The lawsuit alleged that the company's ownership of the plant presented serious antitrust concerns and could adversely affect the price of milk for school districts, retails and other purchasers through Wisconsin.

"I am committed to protecting consumers by ensuring vigorous competition among milk processors," Van Hollen said. "I am pleased that this sale will preserve milk processing competition in southeastern Wisconsin by introducing a new competitor capable of serving grocery stores, convenience stores, schools, and other milk retailers throughout Wisconsin."

Dean Foods Company, based in Dallas, is the largest U.S. processor and distributor of milk and other dairy products. The complaint alleged that after the company acquired the Waukesha plant and other assets, it had a large portion of the fluid-milk sales in Wisconsin, upper Michigan and Illinois. According to the complaint, the company's acquisition deprived school districts and retailers of the benefits of substantial head-to-head competition between Dean Foods and Foremost Farms.

Foremost Farms is a member-owned business association headquartered in Baraboo, Wisconsin. In 2008, its division of consumer products had net sales of $233.7 million. Before Dean Foods acquired the division, Foremost processed its members' raw milk at its plants in De Pere and Waukesha, Wis.

As the new owner of the Waukesha plant, OpenGate capital will acquire all the Waukesha plant assets, including the right to market its products under the La Vaca Bonita and Golden Guernsey brands. The final judgment also requires Dean Foods to notify the U.S.

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