Agrium Inc. said Sept. 6 that it has received regulatory approval for its Retail business, Crop Production Services (CPS), to acquire 16 locations in Western Canada from Andrukow Group Solutions Inc., Camrose, Alba. The transaction is expected to be completed by mid-September.
“These acquisitions demonstrate our continued focus on growing our Retail business in key strategic regions, and will allow us to better serve our customers and provide benefits to growers,” said Chuck Magro, Agrium’s president and CEO. “The acquired locations will increase our Retail presence close to our manufacturing facilities in Western Canada, where we can optimize freight and handling, and in the U.S. Cornbelt, where we are under-represented in a key growing region. We remain committed to the strategy of growing our Retail business through multiple growth levers, including acquisitions, where we have a full pipeline of opportunities.”
The Canadian Competition Bureau (CCB), however, concluded that the initially proposed transaction, which was for all of Andrukow’s outlets, would lead to a substantial lessening or prevention of competition in the retail supply of urea, UAN, or anhydrous ammonia in a number of local markets in Alberta and Saskatchewan. As a result, CCB required Agrium to shed two Andrukow outlets in Sedgewick and Wainwright, Alba., as well as two existing Agrium CPS outlets in St. Paul and Marwayne, Alba.
Andrukow outlets that Agrium will retain in Alberta include Amisk, Camrose, Clyde-Flatlander, Daysland, Dewberry, Gaudin-Fort Saskatchewan, Mundare, Paradise Valley, Provost, Rycroft, Ryley, St. Paul, Strathmore, Viking, and Waskatenau, and one location in Saskatchewan at Marsden.
The CCB has required similar sales in the past related to Agrium Retail acquisitions, including the major Viterra deal back in 2013 (GM Sept. 9, 2013), as well as a more recent smaller transaction of Wendland Ag Services Ltd. in May (GM May 6, p. 19). In that one, CCB required Agrium to sell a retail location in Rosthern, Sask., and ammonia tanks in Leash and Hoey, Sask. Agrium confirmed last week that those sales are complete, with the Rosthern location going to Blair’s Fertilizer, Lanigan, Sask., and the tanks to Prince Albert Co-op, Prince Albert, Sask.
Another major CPS acquisition this summer included 18 locations from Cargill AgHorizons (U.S.) (GM July 8, p. 1) across the northern U.S. Cornbelt region.
Currently, Agrium puts its number of North American outlets at about 1,200, and worldwide at 1,500.