La Coop federee, Land O’Lakes, Inc. (LOL), and CHS Inc. (CHS) have announced the signing of a share purchase agreement under which La Coop federee will acquire the shares of Agronomy Co. of Canada Ltd. (ACC), a LOL/CHS 50-50 joint venture. Terms of the acquisition, expected to close Dec. 31, 2008, were not disclosed.
In the transaction, La Coop federee will acquire the shares of ACC, including the ACC corporate office and grain assets based in Belton, Ont.; Wellburn Agromart Ltd., a crop inputs and grain subsidiary of ACC located in Wellburn, Ont.; an ownership position in 20 Agromart retail businesses across four Eastern Canadian Provinces, operated as joint ventures between ACC and independent business partners, with ACC continuing as a joint venture partner (owned by La Coop federee); and indirect ownership interests in affiliated companies serving the Agromart businesses, including Agromart Terminals, Inc. and Agromart Processing Co. Inc.
Claude Lafleur, La Coop federee CEO, said the acquisition supports the Canadian cooperative’s focus on being the first cooperative marketer and supplier in Eastern Canada for Canadian agricultural producers. “For some years now, La Coop federee has been pursuing its expansion throughout Canada thanks to acquisitions comparable to the one being announced today. We are convinced that our expertise, when combined with that of our new partners involved in this transaction, will benefit all our clients,” Lafleur said.
LOL and CHS also positioned the transaction as a positive strategic initiative. “This transaction enables us to further intensify our focus on wholesale crop nutrients and crop protection products,” LOL President and CEO Chris Policinski and CHS President and CEO John Johnson said in a joint statement. “Further, we were pleased to be able to position Agronomy Co. of Canada with a buyer that offers considerable experience and expertise within the inputs, seed and crop protection industry. We believe this transaction is a positive strategic move for Land O’Lakes and CHS, La Coop federee and ACC.”
La Coop federee is a federation of agricultural cooperatives in the province of Quebec, Canada. Originally founded in 1922, it now comprises 95 cooperatives belonging to 76,000 members. As a wholesaler, La Coop federee supplies farmers in Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick. Through its subsidiary, Olymel LP, it is involved in pork and poultry processing and marketing. La Coop federee and its network of affiliated cooperatives employ nearly 17,000 people, with cumulative sales approaching $5 billion dollars.