Animal nutrition firms Masterfeeds Inc. and Ridley Inc. have agreed to load their Canadian feed properties into one new bin.
The two companies on Thursday announced a merger of their commercial livestock and poultry feed and nutrition businesses in Canada, to be based at London, Ont. under the name Masterfeeds LP.
Masterfeeds, already based at London, and Ridley, which maintains head offices in Winnipeg and at Mankato, Minn., southwest of Minneapolis, expect the merger to lead them to "significant new synergies over time."
Read Also
Research focuses on drought tolerant alfalfa
Exotic alfalfa varieties that produce white, blue, cream and yellow flowers are being looked at by plant breeders to improve the crop’s drought tolerance.
"As Canadian meat, milk and egg producers have become fewer, larger and ever more sophisticated, it has been obvious for some time that the feed industry in Canada would benefit from a similar transformation," Masterfeeds Inc. CEO Rob Flack, who will lead the new company, said in a release.
"As the feed industry evolves, we expect there to be more opportunities for Masterfeeds LP to grow in the future," he said.
"Ridley’s commitment to the long-term in Canada has been unwavering since we acquired the business nearly 20 years ago," Ridley CEO Steve VanRoekel, whose Canadian business operates under the Feed-Rite brand, said in the same release.
"We’ve never hesitated to make the changes necessary to maintain a competitive advantage, and this merger puts all stakeholders in the Feed-Rite organization in a position for even more opportunity going forward."
Terms of the deal, which is expected to be completed in the next month to six weeks subject to regulators’ approval, call for the two companies to contribute "essentially all" their Canadian feed operating assets in exchange for relative shareholdings in Masterfeeds LP.
In Feed-Rite’s case, those assets include plants at Winnipeg, Brandon and Grunthal in Manitoba, Saskatoon and Humboldt in Saskatchewan, and Fort Macleod and Linden in Alberta, plus a specialized premix plant at Mitchell, Ont.
Masterfeeds, which also operates a western regional office at Lethbridge, has feed manufacturing plants at Stratford, Wingham, Prescott, Cavan and Komoka in Ontario, Saskatoon and Regina in Saskatchewan, and Edmonton, Red Deer, Taber, Picture Butte and Didsbury in Alberta.
Both companies’ product lines cover the beef, dairy, hog, horse and poultry feed sectors, plus dog and cat foods and "specialty" products for sheep, goats and commercial rabbits. Masterfeeds also makes a premix product for use with llamas and alpacas.
Related story:
Masterfeeds to buy Land O’Lakes Ont. business, May 21, 2008
BSE class actions seek merger into one, Feb. 18, 2010
