Helm Fertilizer Corp., Tampa, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Helm AG, Hamburg, Germany, said on May 16 it has signed an agreement to take over the fertilizer activities of wholesaler CGB Fertilizer. Helm will add additional fertilizer distribution hubs along the Mississippi River and its tributaries from CGB Fertilizer as of May 31, 2019.
Helm said the move underlines its expansion plans within the U.S. and expands the business activities towards the North. Helm said it will be one of the largest fertilizer distributors in the U.S. It said the acquisition will enable it to market a total of 3 million tons of dry and liquid fertilizer into North America through 15 terminals, and significantly increase its market presence from the U.S. Gulf to Canada.
“This acquisition continues to show Helm’s dedication to our growth strategy of methodically expanding our North American fertilizer distribution footprint,” said Helm Fertilizer Managing Director Michael Peyton. “We look forward to expanding our distribution system into a new geography and working with CGB Fertilizer’s employees, suppliers, and customer base.”
Neither Helm nor CGB Fertilizer provided further details. According to its website, CGB has fertilizer terminal locations at Catoosa, Okla., Hartley and Clayton, Iowa, Gladstone and Naples, Ill., Scott City, Mo., Jeffersonville and Aurora, Ind., North Bend and Cincinnati, Ohio, and Grand Rapids and Ypsilanti, Mich. Helm’s website lists its current terminals as Memphis, Tenn., West Helena, Ark., and Alexandria, La.
Founded in 1900, family-owned Helm AG is one of the world’s largest chemical marketing companies and provides access to key markets through more than 100 subsidiaries, sales offices, and participations in over 30 countries. It employs 1,621. In addition to fertilizer and chemicals, it is active in crop protection and pharmaceutical products.
With this CGB acquisition, Helm said it will now distribute around 4.1 million mt of fertilizer in its core markets of Europe, North America, and Latin America.
CGB Fertilizer is a unit of CGB Enterprises Inc., Mandeville, La., a holding company for the diversified businesses that comprise over 2,500 employees and operations in 40 states. The unit was rebranded as CGB Fertilizer in 2011 (GM July 4, 2011); it was formerly Jeffersonville River Terminal (JRT). In addition to the 97 grain facilities CGB operates, the company has dedicated operations in logistics and transportation (CTLC), fertilizer, crop insurance (Diversified Services), agri-finance (AgFi), soybean processing, producer risk management, and other related businesses.