FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2005 WWW.USDOJ.GOV AT (202) 514-2007 TDD (202) 514-1888 Appeals Court Sends Government Challenge to Dairy Merger Back for Trial WASHINGTON, D.C. - Thomas O. Barnett, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Departments Antitrust Division, issued the following statement today after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed a district court decision that would have dismissed an antitrust challenge to the merger of two Kentucky dairies in United States of America and Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Dairy Farmers of America Inc. and Southern Belle Dairy Co. LLC: We are pleased with the Court of Appealss decision. This decision confirms the legal standard by which the Department reviews partial ownership transactions. Under this standard, the Department and the Commonwealth of Kentucky will be able to demonstrate at trial how Dairy Farmers of Americas acquisition likely increases milk prices for school children across Kentucky and Tennessee. The Department of Justices Antitrust Division and the Commonwealth of Kentuckys Office of the Attorney General filed a lawsuit on Apr. 24, 2003, in U.S. District Court in London, Kentucky, challenging the partial acquisition of Southern Belle Dairy Co. LLC by Dairy Farmers of America Inc. Todays opinion reverses the District Courts grant of summary judgment to Dairy Farmers of America and Southern Belle on Aug. 31, 2004. A trial schedule will be determined once the case is remanded to the U.S. District Court in London, Kentucky. ### 05-567
Source: US Department of Justice
