Jackson Walker L.L.P. successfully represented Select Milk Producers, Inc., a cooperative of 87 large family-owned dairies, in a joint venture with The Coca-Cola Company to operate a health and wellness company known as Fair Oaks Farms Brands. Based in Chicago, Fair Oaks Farms Brands produces and markets premium quality nutrition products, including Core Power®, a high-protein milkshake that is currently being distributed in select regions of the U.S., with a national distribution rollout underway through Coca-Cola Refreshments.
Select and Coca-Cola have each acquired equity stakes in the newly formed Fair Oaks Farms Brands, LLC, which will operate production facilities in New Mexico, Indiana and Michigan. The company’s flagship farm, located in Fair Oaks, Indiana, is open to the public and is recognized as a leader in sustainable agriculture.
The transaction has been covered by Reuters, Bloomberg Businessweek, the Chicago Tribune, Fox Business, Investor’s Business Daily, the Atlanta Business Chronicle, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, among others. The distribution arrangement with Coca-Cola Refreshments was previously covered by The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
Led by William H. Hornberger and Cale McDowell, the Jackson Walker team was made up of attorneys from a variety of practice groups, including Ron Kerridge, Raman Dewan, Leonard Dougal, Chuck Campbell, Peter Bean, Nelson Hunt, Ashley Scheer, Lauren Mutti, David Schlottman, and Dan Clemons, as well as paralegals Kati Stephens and Deb Pepper.
Jackson Walker worked closely throughout the transaction with Guy N. Fields III (The Fields Law Firm, P.C., El Paso), outside general counsel to Select, as well as with the executive management of Select and Fair Oaks Farms Brands and with numerous specialist attorneys across the country, including Dr. Lekha Gopalakrishnan (Winstead PC, Dallas), William H. Oldach III (Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, Washington, D.C.), Douglas A. Cherry (Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP, Sarasota, FL), Peter R. Silverman (Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP, Toledo, OH), W. Reed Hauptman (Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP, Toledo, OH), Brian A. Mair (Slater & Matsil, L.L.P., Dallas), Ryan Miltner (Miltner Law Firm, New Knoxville, OH), Todd W. Hoppe (Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, Grand Rapids, MI) and John F. Lemker (The Wood Burditt Group LLC, Lake Forest, IL). Coca-Cola was represented in the transaction by DLA Piper.
