Saputo: announces the closure of its plant in Ontario

Montreal / CA. (si) Saputo Inc. announced the closure of its Brampton, Ontario plant which processes milk and cream products. The plant will cease its activities by October 31, 2010. Operations will be integrated in other facilities located in Ontario. The Company also announced the consolidation of all the distribution activities of the greater Toronto area into one distribution center which will be located in Vaughan, Ontario. These changes will be implemented gradually and should be completed at the end of September 2010. In all, this announcement will affect approximately 190 employees from whom around 120 employees will be offered the possibility to be relocated within the Dairy Products Division (Canada). These decisions are part of the Company´s continual analysis of its overall activities and the implementation of measures aimed at improving its operational efficiency. Costs connected with this announcement will be approximately 4,6 million CAD, after tax, which includes a fixed assets write-down of approximately 2,0 million CAD, after tax. Saputo expects annual after tax savings of approximately 6,5 million CAD.

About: Saputo Inc. produces, markets and distributes a wide array of products of the utmost quality, including cheese, fluid milk, yogurt, dairy ingredients and snack-cakes. Saputo is the 11th largest dairy processor in the world, the largest in Canada, the third largest in Argentina, among the top three cheese producers in the United States and the largest snack-cake manufacturer in Canada. The products are sold in more than 40 countries.