Lactalis, which claims to be the world’s largest dairy company, has agreed to acquire Siggi’s—the U.S. based maker of Icelandic style skyr yogurts with “simple ingredients, not a lot of sugar”—for an undisclosed price. 
 
Siggi’s was founded by Siggi Hilmarsson who, after moving to the U.S. from his native Iceland, began making yogurt in his kitchen in response to American yogurt, which he found too sweet and full of extra ingredients. The recipe was based on skyr, the Icelandic style yogurt he grew up eating in his native Iceland. With seed investment from his former professor, Mr. Hilmarsson started selling his yogurt at an outdoor market in downtown Manhattan in 2006. It is now the fastest growing yogurt in conventional grocery. Siggi’s is a top 5 selling yogurt brand in many mainstream grocery chains including Stop & Shop, Meijer and Publix and recently became the #1 selling yogurt brand overall in Whole Foods, according to Nielsen data for December 2017.
 
Siggi’s will continue operating out of its New York City office and will remain a standalone company under its current senior leadership team, which includes its founder as CEO, and Bart Adlam as president.
 
“We’re excited to join the Lactalis family which offers the opportunity to further fuel our growth,” said Mr. Hilmarsson. “Our core values of clean ingredient label and less sugar will remain 100% unchanged. Consumers everywhere are actively trying to reduce sugar in their diets so our offering has a global relevance.”
 
Mr. Adlam added, “Siggi’s topline grew 50% in 2017 and we expect to match this in 2018 as we launch further innovations.  We are excited to keep the momentum going with support from the largest dairy player in the world.”
 
“We are delighted to welcome Siggi’s to the Lactalis Group, which further expands our yogurt platform in the U.S. with this unique and fast-growing yogurt brand. We look forward to supporting Siggi’s as it continues to bring its retail partners exceptional dollar growth in the yogurt category,” said Emmanuel Besnier, president of the Lactalis Group.
 
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor and The Giannuzzi Group acted as legal counsel to Siggi’s, and Dentons US LLP acted as legal counsel to the Lactalis Group, on the sale. The acquisition is subject to expiration of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act in the United States.