Wake up with RealAg

A California-based company that makes “animal-free” alternatives to dairy products using microflora is receiving US$50 million in funding from the Canada Pension Plan’s investment fund.

Perfect Day announced a new US$300 million round of funding last week, led by the contribution from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Founded in 2014, the company has developed a proprietary process to produce casein and whey proteins through fermentation in microflora instead of by cows. The company started selling its lab-grown ice “cream” — with vegan and lactose-free labels — in 2019.

In addition to touting environmental and animal welfare aspects of its process, Perfect Day says it expects to have a unique advantage in being able to quickly increase or decrease production depending on demand relative to the longer production cycles in the dairy industry.

The investment is being made via CPP’s Thematic Investing group, which aims to identify and invest in emerging trends, innovations and disruptive technologies.

“It marks the first investment into Thematic Investing’s new Climate Change Opportunities strategy, which will focus on innovative companies that are well positioned to respond to the challenges posed by climate change,” says Leon Pedersen, managing director, head of Thematic Investing for CPP Investments, in a news release.

“Sustainable technologies like Perfect Day are poised to capture structural shifts in industrial practices, physical resources and consumer preferences for environmentally conscious options, which are well-suited to our long-term investing approach. We look forward to building our partnership with the company and its management team,” says Pedersen.

While it operates at arms-length from government, the CPP Investment Board is a Crown corporation, and as of March 31, it managed C$409.6 billion in investments on behalf of 20 million Canadians who contribute to CPP.

Seeding equipment-maker Morris Industries will likely be owned by another Saskatchewan-based manufacturer by the end of the month.

Rite Way Mfg. is poised to acquire Morris, based on court documents and an announcement published by Morris’ national distributor in Australia.

Morris has been in creditor protection since early January. As we reported in May, Superior Farm Solutions Limited, the parent company of Rite Way, had submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire Morris.

Last week, a Saskatchewan judge extended the stay of proceedings against Morris from July 3 to July 31 to allow the two companies to finalize their deal. The court-appointed monitor said the involved parties had reached an agreement on the terms of two asset purchase agreements, and that they anticipated being back in court in mid-July to seek approval of the sale and related transactions.

While neither Rite Way or Morris have made any public statements or responded to requests for more information, Morris’ national distributor in Australia is already welcoming Rite Way as the new owner of Morris.

An announcement published by Australia-based McIntosh Group quotes Rite Way’s president and CEO Heather Forbes.

“Morris’ greatest strength lies in its engineering and research and development capability, and we have identified opportunities for improvement in manufacturing efficiencies,” she says.

“Taking 100 per cent ownership will allow us to restructure our manufacturing approach in Western Canada to ensure we can transition our strength in engineering into great products in the field,” continues Forbes. “We are confident we can guide Morris into a new era, continuing the strong Morris brand and building on its historical success in precision farming solutions.”

The CEO of McIntosh Group, David Capper, is also welcoming Rite Way’s apparent ownership.

“Morris remains in the hands of a financially strong Canadian manufacturer and the streamlined ownership structure and core focus on manufacturing will deliver great outcomes for Morris,” says Capper. “We are pleased with the developments and look forward to continuing our relationship with Ms. Forbes and Morris.”

Headquartered in Regina with manufacturing based in Imperial, Sask., Rite Way builds and sells a variety of equipment, including rock pickers, land rollers, heavy harrows, rotary harrows, and crimper rollers. As for Morris, the company builds seeding equipment, as well as harrows and bale-handling equipment, with manufacturing facilities in Yorkton, Sask. and Minnedosa, Man.

Financial terms of the proposed agreement between Rite Way and Morris have been kept confidential. According to court documents, Morris’ largest secured creditor — BMO — supports the deal.