La Coop fédérée completes its acquisition of the grain and agricultural input assets of Cargill in Ontario

MONTREAL, Nov. 20, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - La Coop fédérée, an agri-food cooperative with establishments across Canada, has concluded, through its Agri-business Division, its acquisition of the grain and crop input assets of Cargill in Ontario after obtaining the approval of the Competition Bureau.

"This transaction is part of La Coop fédérée's sustainable growth plan as it strives to become a leader in Canada in the agri-business sector and will allow us to increase our presence in Ontario as well as on the Canadian market" says Ghislain Gervais, President of La Coop fédérée.

"This transaction confirms our firm's position among the biggest players in the Canadian agricultural industry, with sales totalling more than $2 billion last year," noted Gaétan Desroches, Chief Executive Officer of La Coop fédérée.

"This agreement demonstrates that the business model of the Agri-business Division of La Coop fédérée, based on the proximity of our dealers with farmers is relevant and performs well in an industry that is experiencing, as is the case for many others, a major wave of consolidations," added Sébastien Léveillé, Executive Agricultural Vice-President of La Coop fédérée.

The sale conditions have not been disclosed.

A large-scale deployment for grain marketing activities

With this transaction, the grain sector of the Agri-business Division of La Coop fédérée is extending its activities, which are already solidly rooted in Quebec and Atlantic Canada after experiencing solid growth in recent years. Cargill establishments, those of South West Ag Partners and the existing grain marketing group in Ontario will now serve as the marketing entity of La Coop fédérée, a team that will serve as a partner for farmers for marketing their harvests in local, industrial or international markets.

The Agromart network is blossoming

With this transaction, the Agromart Group has added two new dealers and multiple service points to its Ontario sourcing network for crop input. Agromart retailers work as partners with Ontario farmers for their crop production. Customers will have the support of 20 locally-owned joint-venture retail businesses across Eastern Canada, that include crop nutrients, seeds, crop protection products, custom application and associates services.

Sites included in the sale

As previously indicated, the sale includes the assets of 13 grain and agricultural input establishments and 50% of the shares held by Cargill in South West Ag Partners, a cooperative that includes 9 grain and agricultural input establishments in Ontario. The sale excludes the export terminal in Sarnia and the AgResource agricultural input wholesaler as well as all other grain and agricultural input assets of Cargill in Canada and all other businesses belonging to Cargill in Ontario and elsewhere in Canada.

The establishments included in the sale are:

• Cargill grain: Melbourne; Princeton; Shetland; Staples; Talbotville
• Cargill agricultural input: 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 satellite grain partnerships
• South West Ag Partners agricultural input: Becher; Dover; Eberts; Ridgetown; Rutherford

* Sites operated independently as agreed with the Competition Bureau.

About La Coop fédérée

Founded in 1922, La Coop fédérée is the largest agri-food organization in Quebec, the only pan Canadian agri-food cooperative and the 24^th largest in the world. It represents more than 120,000 members, farmers and consumers grouped into close to 70 cooperatives in multiple Canadian provinces. La Coop fédérée employs more than 13,000 employees and sales of $6.3 billion. If we include its affiliates, La Coop fédérée has about 18,000 employees and combined sales of $9.2 billion. Its activities are divided into three divisions: Olymel S.E.C (under the Olymel, Flamingo and Lafleur banners, the Agricultural Division (under the La Coop, Élite, Agrocentre, Agrico and Agromart banners) and the BMR Group (under the BMR, Unimat and Potvin & Bouchard banners). For more information, please visit: www.lacoop.coop. Twitter account: @LaCoop_federee.

SOURCE La Coop fédérée

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