The Pasvalys cheese plant sale splits one Lithuanian cheese plant between two rivals: Pieno žvaigždės said on November 10, 2026 it will sell the plant's semi-finished cheese production to Rokiškio sūris. It keeps ripening, packaging, its brands and its customers, and will buy the cheese-making back as a service.
Key points
- Pieno žvaigždės has agreed to sell part of its Pasvalio sūrinė plant in Pasvalys (buildings, land, equipment and utility networks used to make semi-finished cheese) to AB Rokiškio sūris and its subsidiary UAB RS IT.
- The workers tied to those assets move to the buyer under Lithuanian employment law and keep working at the same site, the company says.
- Pieno žvaigždės keeps the ripening and packaging site at Mūšos str. 2C, its trademarks, its other intellectual property and its supplier and customer contracts.
- After closing, the buyer will make semi-finished cheese for Pieno žvaigždės under separate service agreements signed alongside the sale.
- Closing depends mainly on a concentration permit from Lithuania's Competition Council, if one is needed; the price will be disclosed once the deal completes.
What exactly changes hands at the Pasvalys cheese plant?
The production side of the plant moves; the finishing side and the business stay. Pieno žvaigždės says the buyer takes the facilities at Mūšos str. 14 and 12C to 12F that turn milk into semi-finished cheese, while the company holds on to the buildings and equipment it needs to mature and pack cheese, so its own cheese keeps reaching shops without a break.
None of the commercial side goes with the plant. Pieno žvaigždės states that its brands, other intellectual property and live contracts with suppliers and buyers are not part of the deal, and that the buyer will produce semi-finished cheese for it once the sale closes.
How big is this for Lithuanian cheese?
Rokiškio sūris expects the Pasvalys plant to raise the company's total cheese output by more than half, most of it for export. Lithuania as a whole made about 102,080 tonnes of cheese in 2025, according to Eurostat's cheese production table, and between about 94,000 and 103,000 tonnes in every year since 2014, while the EU as a whole made 10.8 million tonnes in 2024, Eurostat reported.
Rokiškio sūris chief executive Dalius Trumpa told the BNS news agency that the company makes about 40,000 tonnes of cheese a year and expects to reach 60,000 tonnes or more with Pasvalys, a rise of more than 50%, as reported by LRT. He said the company plans to invest in the plant, LRT reported.
More than 90% of Rokiškio sūris cheese is sold abroad, with Italy as its main market, Trumpa said, and Pasvalys will make cheeses that need little ripening, such as mozzarella, according to the same report.
How many workers move to Rokiškio sūris?
All of those attached to the assets being sold, the release says, with their jobs carried over at the same workplace under the transfer procedure the law sets. Trumpa put the number at about 300 and said he expects headcount to grow with output; data from Sodra, Lithuania's social insurance agency, show 263 people working at the Pasvalys plant now, LRT reported.
What does the Pasvalys deal mean for dairy buyers and suppliers?
Our analysis: for retailers and distributors that buy from Pieno žvaigždės, the deal is built so that little changes on their side. The company keeps its brands, its contracts and the last stages of production, and has arranged for semi-finished cheese to keep coming from the same Pasvalys plant under its new owner. What changes is who runs the cheese vats. Rokiškio sūris gains more capacity for the export cheese it already sells mostly abroad, and Pieno žvaigždės moves from making its own semi-finished cheese to buying it in, while still deciding how it is matured, packed and sold.
Frequently asked questions
Which regulator has to clear the sale?
The Competition Council of the Republic of Lithuania. A merger must be notified and cleared there when the parties' combined revenue in the last year topped €20 million and at least two of them each topped €2 million, the Council says; those thresholds have applied since January 1, 2018, under its revised merger notification procedure.
When will the price be made public?
Pieno žvaigždės says it will disclose the transaction value once the deal completes, and will publish a separate notice about the closing.
Is Pieno žvaigždės selling shares or the whole company?
No. It is an asset sale covering part of one plant; the company and its brands stay with Pieno žvaigždės, and Rokiškio sūris said in its own Nasdaq Vilnius notice that no Pieno žvaigždės shares are involved, LRT reported.
Who is buying the assets?
AB Rokiškio sūris together with its subsidiary UAB RS IT, which LRT reports was set up for this purchase.
What are the two companies' stock tickers?
Both trade on Nasdaq Vilnius: Pieno žvaigždės as PZV1L and Rokiškio sūris as RSU1L.
Sources
- Pieno žvaigždės notice on the Pasvalys plant sale: notice of a material event from AB Pieno žvaigždės via GlobeNewswire, 10 November 2026.
- „Pieno žvaigždės“ parduoda dalį gamyklos Pasvalyje „Rokiškio sūriui“: LRT, citing BNS, 10 November 2026 (in Lithuanian).
- Production of cheese (tag00040) and Milk production reached 161.8 million tonnes in 2024: Eurostat.
- The Competition Council clears transaction for Estonian companies and Revised merger notification and examination procedure: Competition Council of the Republic of Lithuania, on the merger notification thresholds.
- Pieno žvaigždės and Rokiškio sūris: Wikipedia, for the companies' listings.
- Pieno žvaigždės and Rokiškio sūris: the companies' websites.