Reading Time: 7 minutes Back in 1979, friends Jan Van Gennip and Orance Mainville decided to join forces to get into the feedlot business. Van Gennip had the farm, Mainville brought his knowledge of cattle and business, and together they formed Fermes Janor. Since then, Mainville (now semi-retired) has been joined by his daughter Marie-Claude, and many partners have […] Read more
A shareholder plan for farm employees
With family and non-family ownership, Marie-Claude Mainville’s management of this Quebec farm may become a new Canadian pattern
Dreyfus shareholders agree to arbitration over stake sale
Reading Time: 2 minutes Amsterdam/Paris | Reuters — Family shareholders of commodity trader Louis Dreyfus have agreed to arbitration talks to settle a long-running dispute over a share sale, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters. The tussle concerns an attempt by minority shareholders to sell nearly 17 per cent of the group’s holding firm to Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, […] Read more
U.S. FTC clears Amazon acquisition of Whole Foods
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday it has cleared Amazon.com’s planned US$13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market. The FTC said in a statement that it had reviewed whether the deal would substantially lessen competition or constituted an unfair method of competition and opted not to pursue its investigation […] Read more
ChemChina clinches takeover of Syngenta
Reading Time: 2 minutes Zurich | Reuters –– ChemChina has won more than enough support from Syngenta shareholders to clinch its US$43 billion takeover of the Swiss pesticides and seeds group, the two companies said Friday. The deal, announced in February 2016, was prompted by China’s desire to use Syngenta’s portfolio of top-tier chemicals and patent-protected seeds to improve […] Read more
Monsanto shareholders back Bayer deal
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– Shareholders of U.S. seeds and agrochemicals company Monsanto approved the company’s US$66 billion acquisition by Bayer on Tuesday, a deal that still requires regulatory approval to close as expected in late 2017. Increased research and development spending by the combined companies and plans to develop a global seeds and biotechnology hub […] Read more
Agrium/PotashCorp merger set for shareholder approval
Reading Time: 2 minutes Toronto/Winnipeg | Reuters — The shareholders of Agrium and PotashCorp are set to overwhelmingly approve a merger of the two Canadian fertilizer producers, according to a source familiar with the situation, despite initial skepticism from Agrium investors. About 99 per cent of the votes from both groups of shareholders are in favour of the transaction, […] Read more
Agrium, PotashCorp shareholders vote on merger next month
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Agrium and PotashCorp shareholders will hold separate meetings next month to vote on a merger agreement between the two fertilizer companies, they said in a filing on Thursday. The all-stock deal would combine Potash’s crop nutrient production capacity, the world’s largest, with Agrium’s farm retail network, North America’s biggest. Agrium shareholders will meet […] Read more
Bayer clinches Monsanto with raised US$66 billion bid
Reading Time: 4 minutes New York/Frankfurt | Reuters — German drugs and crop chemicals company Bayer has won over U.S. seeds firm Monsanto with an improved takeover offer of US$66 billion including debt, ending months of wrangling after increasing its bid for a third time. The $128 a share deal announced on Wednesday, up from Bayer’s previous offer of […] Read more
Meeting your legal obligations if your farm is incorporated
Guide Legal: When businessmen become directors
Reading Time: 4 minutes When a business transitions from a sole proprietorship or partnership to a corporation, the move requires a shift in how decisions are made. In particular, making decisions solely as a businessman (or woman, of course) is different from making decisions as a corporate director, so it is important to know how directors’ decisions will be […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
