After putting its grain handling and crop input operations in Ontario up for sale this winter, Cargill has reached a deal to sell the business, including its ownership in South West Ag Partners, to Quebec-based La Coop fédérée.
The agreement includes 13 grain and crop inputs retail locations, as well as Cargill’s 50 percent share of South West Ag Partners, a joint venture which includes nine grain and crop inputs facilities in Ontario.
The sale does not include Cargill’s export terminal in Sarnia, or the AgResource crop inputs wholesale business.
“After an in-depth evaluation of our grain and crop inputs businesses in Ontario, we came to the conclusion that a sale of those assets was the best path forward to remain competitive and deliver on our growth strategy. La Coop fédérée was the buyer of choice to ensure a smooth transition for employees and customers,” says Dave Baudler, managing director for Cargill’s grain business, in a statement on Thursday.
Related: Cargill in talks to sell Ontario crop input and grain handling sites
Both parties say terms of the sale will not be disclosed. The transaction will be finalized “upon the completion of definitive agreements and any required regulatory reviews, which are expected the second quarter of the calendar year.”
“This transaction is part of La Coop fédérée and its agricultural division’s sustainable growth plan, which includes the Agromart retail network and our grain trade businesses. This agreement will help us continue with our major expansion program elsewhere in Canada and remain competitive on grain and agricultural input markets,” says Gaétan Desroches, La Coop fédérée’s chief executive officer.
The Montreal-based cooperative has been expanding its Agromart retail network and LCF grain trading business, notes Sébastien Léveillé, executive agribusiness vice-president for La Coop fédérée. “The addition of these facilities will be a complementary fit to existing operations in Ontario, which already include four crop input terminals, 16 locally-owned joint-venture retailers and a grain trading group.”
Other Cargill grain and crop input facilities across the country (40 crop input retail locations, 26 elevator assets, five export terminals, and two oilseed processing facilities), as well as other Cargill businesses in Ontario, are not part of the deal.
La Coop fédérée is cooperative founded in 1922. It employs more than 13,000 people in three divisions: Olymel S.E.C (under the Olymel, Flamingo and Lafleur), the agriculture division (under the La Coop, Élite, Agrocentre, Agrico and Agromart brands) and the BMR Group (under the BMR, Unimat and Potvin & Bouchard).
- Cargill grain: Melbourne; Princeton; Shetland; Staples; Talbotville
- Cargill crop inputs: Alliston; Clinton; Courtland; Harriston; Harrow; Melbourne; Mount Albert; Princeton; Shetland; Talbotville; Tilbury; Waterford
- South West Ag Partners grain: Becher; Grande Pointe; Palmerston Grain; Rutherford; Tupperville; Wallaceburg; all grain satellite relationships
- South West Ag Partners crop inputs: Becher; Dover; Eberts; Ridgetown; Rutherford
More to come…