Richardson International is expanding its oat milling business and its presence in Europe.
The Winnipeg-based company says it has acquired European Oat Millers, as of June 15, 2017.
Headquartered in Bedford, England, European Oat Millers is the second largest oat miller in Europe, according to Richardson, producing a wide range of oat products that are sold throughout the U.K., with exports to continental Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
“We are excited to build on our success in value-added processing and extend our food manufacturing footprint to a new geography,” said Curt Vossen, president and CEO of Richardson International. “As the largest oat miller in North America, we now look forward to building a presence in Europe to enhance our ability to compete in the global marketplace.”
Richardson entered the oat milling business in 2013 with the acquisition of Viterra’s Can-Oat Milling as part of the arrangement that saw Glencore buy Viterra. The deal included three oat processing plants in Canada – Portage la Prairie, Manitoba; Martensville, Saskatchewan; Barrhead, Alberta – and one in the U.S. in South Sioux City, Nebraska.
The terms of the deal with European Oat Millers were not disclosed.
“My brother and I are very proud of the business that we have successfully grown over the past three decades,” said Bill Jordan, who co-founded European Oat Millers with his brother, David. ‘We are pleased to be passing it on to a similar family-owned business that shares both our vision for growth and our core values and we look forward to watching the business evolve.”
