The Power of Focus

Selling a business doesn’t always signal failure. Sometimes, it’s a sign of clarity.

General Mills has officially sold off its U.S. yogurt division, including Yoplait, Liberté, and Mountain High, to Lactalis USA. On the surface, it may seem like they’re stepping back from a category they helped build. But this move reflects a sharper strategy: focusing on what drives growth and letting go of what doesn’t.

Yogurt, once a priority, had become a drag. Margins were squeezed, consumer preferences were shifting, and competitors like Chobani and Danone kept the pressure on. Meanwhile, General Mills has been doubling down on snacks, cereal, and pet food—areas showing stronger demand and profitability.

This wasn’t about downsizing. It was about doubling down where it matters.

For Lactalis, this wasn’t just a brand acquisition—it was a strategic move to solidify dominance in a key U.S. category. The yogurt market may have matured, but it’s far from stagnant.

According to IRI and Nielsen data, U.S. retail yogurt sales exceeded $7 billion in 2023, with Greek and high-protein options continuing to grow, especially among younger consumers. While overall category growth has slowed, demand for premium and health-focused offerings remains strong. That plays directly into Liberté’s positioning and even gives Yoplait new life if properly repositioned.

This acquisition also strengthens Lactalis’ U.S. distribution footprint. With the addition of General Mills’ yogurt manufacturing and supply chain assets, Lactalis gains broader cold-chain reach and greater control over logistics, key advantages in a category where freshness and speed matter.

And it fits a clear pattern. Lactalis acquired Kraft’s natural cheese business in 2021 for $3.2 billion and added Siggi’s to its portfolio to target health-conscious buyers. With this latest move, Lactalis now controls more than 20% of the U.S. branded dairy market, positioning it as one of the most dominant players in refrigerated consumer goods.

What General Mills saw as legacy, Lactalis sees as leverage. Their deep expertise, leaner structure, and willingness to invest in dairy long-term give them an advantage where conglomerates may hesitate.

This deal wasn’t about rescuing a struggling brand—it was about aligning with operating strengths. Lactalis is a pure dairy company. It doesn’t need to juggle snacks, cereal, and pet food. That singular focus lets it move with speed and certainty in categories others find too complicated or too marginal.

There’s a hidden lesson here for business owners: complexity creates drag. When you operate across too many categories or chase too many customer types, your efficiency suffers and your margins often follow.

General Mills has spent the past few years narrowing its portfolio, focusing on what it does best and what moves the needle. Yogurt, with its capital-intensive refrigeration, private label price pressure, and shifting consumer demands, no longer justified the complexity. Lactalis, by contrast, has the systems, people, and appetite to absorb that complexity and turn it into profit.

This is the essence of a good deal: when one company’s burden becomes another’s opportunity.

It also reveals something that’s easy to overlook in M&A: operational alignment is often more important than top-line revenue. When a buyer can plug an acquisition into their existing system without overhauling their structure, the path to profitability shortens dramatically. And when sellers recognize that friction ahead of time, they can command a higher price by positioning the asset as a clean fit.

For business owners preparing for exit, this is a critical takeaway. The more your business matches a buyer’s focus, infrastructure, or growth plan, the more it’s worth—regardless of your revenue curve.

For business owners looking to scale or exit, this is the key lesson:

The data is clear: selling off what no longer fits can create more value than holding on—and today’s smartest companies are doing just that.

According to Bain & Company’s 2023 study, 90% of top-performing acquirers also divest actively, using sales as a tool to simplify operations and refocus on what moves the needle. Companies in the top quartile of strategic divestors delivered total shareholder returns up to 3x higher than the market average. The message? Pruning isn’t weakness. It’s performance.

Deloitte’s 2024 global survey backs this up. 60% of M&A leaders now assess their portfolio for divestiture opportunities at least twice a year, and those who prepare early tend to see higher transaction values and lower separation costs. Prepared sellers don’t just offload—they profit.

PwC’s 2024–2025 research goes even further. Companies that routinely combine acquisitions with targeted divestitures see outsized returns, especially when reinvestment is the next move. These businesses aren’t shrinking; they’re reallocating capital toward high-return areas, often doubling or tripling their growth trajectory.

EY-Parthenon adds a global lens. Across Asia-Pacific and Europe, firms are divesting not because assets are weak—but because they no longer align with strategic or ESG goals. The era of holding sprawling portfolios “just because” is ending. Focused operators with clean, streamlined offerings are the ones winning the next round.

That’s exactly what this General Mills–Lactalis deal reflects. Yogurt still sells, but not in the way General Mills wants to grow. For Lactalis, it's a perfect fit. One side gains clarity. The other gains control.

From the tower, here’s the big idea:
In this market, simplification isn’t optional—it’s a competitive edge.

General Mills isn’t alone. A wave of portfolio pruning is already underway across multiple industries—and it’s accelerating.

In the consumer packaged goods (CPG) space, both Unilever and Nestlé have been under pressure to offload underperforming food brands and double down on high-growth health and wellness categories. Unilever already spun off its tea business and is rumored to be evaluating divestiture of several personal care lines.

In tech, companies like PayPal, IBM, and Salesforce are slimming down operations by shedding acquired divisions that no longer align with core platforms. The focus is shifting from expansion to efficiency.

And in pharma, giants like Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer are spinning off consumer health units and non-core R&D segments to boost investor confidence and simplify go-to-market execution.

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