Winnetka-based company wins bid to purchase Oberweis Dairy after bankruptcy protection filing

NORTH AURORA, Ill. (WLS) -- A Florida company has won a bid to purchase Oberweis Dairy, an ice cream and dairy company based in North Aurora, after the business filed for bankruptcy protection.

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The Hoffmann Family of Companies, a Florida private equity firm based in north suburban Winnetka, announced Wednesday it won an auction to purchase Oberweis.

The dairy company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month.

READ MORE | Oberweis Dairy to close North Aurora plant, cut nearly 130 jobs after bankruptcy protection filing

The deal still has to be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The equity firm bested an initial offer from the owner of Dutch Farms, an egg-and-dairy company based in Pullman.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed but likely surpassed Brian Boomsma's bid of about $20 million, as disclosed in previous court filings.

HF Companies co-CEO Geoff Hoffmann told the Sun-Times Wednesday that Oberweis' North Aurora facility "will stay open, receive numerous upgrades and hopefully expand capacity." He could not comment on potential job cuts at the plant, but the firm plans to make it "busier than it's ever been."

He said Oberweis' ice cream parlors "will absolutely stay open," and there are no plans to cut store employees. "Expansion is fully in the strategy we are putting together" in Chicago and new markets, he added.

Oberweis Dairy was founded in 1951 by the family of Illinois Republican politician Jim Oberweis.

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Sun-Times Media contributed to this report.