Gavilon Group LLC, which is in the process of being bought by Japanese company Marubeni Corp. (GM June 4, p. 1), told Green Markets last week that it expects to remain intact after the acquisition, and that the company is moving forward with plans to build its own world headquarters in downtown Omaha, Neb. The company also announced plans July 9 to expand its propane business.
Gavilon said the Marubeni deal, still before regulatory authorities, is expected to close in the late third quarter.
The company is looking to construct a new building to house its current 350 employees in Omaha, as it is outgrowing its current 48,000 square foot site in the downtown ConAgra complex. Gavilon is a spinoff of ConAgra Foods Inc.
Company-wide, Gavilon employs 2,000.
Key for any new headquarters would be a wide-open commodities trading floor and mezzanine that could be some 70,000 square feet. Due to this requirement, the company said it is more apt to build than buy. The company is currently looking at a low-rise design. However, the design, site selection, and building timeline have not been established.
Gavilon confirmed that it has been looking at a 1.45 acre green space, full-block site. Called World-Herald Square Plaza, it is the former home of The World-Herald Co.
Gavilon’s fertilizer trading business is based in Savannah, Ga.
In other news last week, Gavilon announced it has expanded its natural gas liquids (NGL) business and will market propane along all of the major U.S. propane pipelines, including TEPPCO and Dixie, with additional supply from refineries, terminals, and fractionators. Joining Gavilon to provide the company expertise in the top propane markets in the U.S. are John Bienkowski, Bill Connallon, Nick Di Risio, Pat Frey, John Lorgan, Jim Neumann, and Matt Ward.
"We are looking forward to expanding our NGL business with the addition of a seasoned marketing and operations team," said Jay Furman, head of Natural Gas Liquids Marketing at Gavilon. "These individuals are renowned for their customer service, reliability, and logistics expertise, as well as their relationships with a large array of customers, suppliers, and transportation providers.
"Our marketing team now has the ability to provide services to satisfy customer demand for propane and other natural gas liquids east of the Rocky Mountains," Furman added.