FITCHBURG, WIS. – Emmi Roth USA, a business unit of the Emmi Roth Group, is acquiring feta cheese manufacturer Athenos from the Lactalis Group. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“With Athenos, the No. 1 brand in the US feta market will be joining Emmi,” said Matthias Kunz, executive vice president of Emmi’s Americas division. “We are well suited for further developing this business successfully. It will strengthen our position in the strategically important US market and therefore also our growing export business from Switzerland as we can offer our customers an even more extensive and attractive range of products.”

Athenos generated approximately $90 million in sales in 2020. The company has a presence in retail and foodservice.

Lactalis Group acquired the Athenos business as well as several other cheese brands this past September from the Kraft Heinz Co. in a $3.2 billion transaction. Antitrust regulators in the United States raised concerns about some aspects of the deal and Lactalis Group agreed to sell Athenos to Emmi Roth to clear the path for approval of the larger transaction.