Carnation to Sell L.A. Milk Plant

Carnation Co. said its dairies division has agreed to sell its Main Street milk and juice plant in Los Angeles to Main Street Milk Co., an affiliate of Investcorp, an international investment bank with offices in New York, London and Bahrain.

Carnation declined to disclose the purchase price. The sale of the plant on North Spring Street means that the focus of the Southern California dairies division will be on ice cream, ice cream novelties, yogurt and cottage cheese, Carnation said. Milk will continue to be produced in other states, a company spokesman said.

The pending sale won’t affect Carnation’s yogurt plant in Fullerton, its cottage cheese plant in Bakersfield, nor its ice cream novelty plant in Glendale, the company said. Nor is the sale expected to immediately affect the Los Angeles plant’s 700 workers, the Carnation spokesman said. Carnation also said it is building an ice cream and ice cream novelty plant in Bakersfield.

Meanwhile, Main Street Milk has agreed to lease back to Carnation the ice cream production portion of the Los Angeles plant, the company said. Carnation said it will enter into an agreement for Main Street Milk to distribute Carnation ice cream in Southern California.

Investcorp has made several acquisitions in the United States.