Dean Foods and all of its wholly owned subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code on Nov. 12, 2019. Once filing for bankruptcy, financial transactions must be approved by the bankruptcy court. (Read: Dean Foods files Chapter 11 bankruptcy, negotiating with DFA.)
Dean Foods filed several “first day motions” during initial court proceedings and received interim approval from the court to access up to $475 million of the in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing.
Among the legal dockets posted, Dean Foods filed a motion seeking permission to pay “critical vendors” to facilitate their ongoing operations, including a motion to pay dairy farmers for milk. (Read: Dairy farmers to receive Dean milk payments.)
In the Dec. 20, 2019, order, the court also granted other relief, including providing final approvals for other of the company’s motions intended to support the business.
“We are pleased to have received final court approval of our DIP credit facility,” said Eric Beringause, the company’s president and CEO. “I can’t thank our employees enough for their continued dedication and hard work, and our suppliers, customers and other partners for their support and patience as we move through this process. We remain focused on providing customers with an uninterrupted supply of high-quality dairy products.”
Additional information is available on the restructuring page of the company’s website. Court filings and other information related to the proceedings are available on a separate website administered by the company’s claims agent, Epiq Corporate Restructuring LLC. Nearly 600 court dockets have been posted. 
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Dave Natzke
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- Progressive Dairy
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