A sale of Golden Guernsey Dairy could be coming soon, clearing the way for a reopening of the company that closed two months ago, according to Milwaukee's Journal Sentinel. A dairy products company that supplies Costco stores has offered $5.5 million for the Waukesha plant, a court filing shows.

The parent company of Superior Dairy Co. of Canton, Ohio, submitted the offer and put down a $500,000 deposit, according to the filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The offer rejects the labor contract that was in place at the plant.

Bankruptcy Trustee Charles Stanziale Jr. is accepting bids through May 10. An auction would be held May 14 if more than one qualified bid is received.

History of the plant's closure
A Los Angeles private-equity firm that acquired Golden Guernsey in 2011 shut down the dairy processor Jan. 5, resulting in the loss of more than 100 jobs. Shortly after the shutdown, Golden Guernsey filed for bankruptcy.

The trustee in Golden Guernsey's bankruptcy has undertaken a marketing campaign to sell the milk bottling plant and its equipment as a turn-key operation, according to court records. The plant is being run on a limited basis, with a handful of employees, to prepare for a sale.

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Foremost Farms, the Baraboo-based cooperative that supplied milk to Golden Guernsey, is allegedly owed $1.1 million for unpaid invoices and damages from the breach of a milk supply agreement.

As a result of the bankruptcy, someone could buy Golden Guernsey's assets and restart the operation without the burdens of previous contracts and debt, including the previous labor agreement. PD

—Compiled from Journal Sentinel articles (Click here and here to read the relevant articles.)