La Coop fédérée makes deal with Co-op Atlantic for feed mills

19-Nov-2015 - Last updated on 20-Nov-2015 at 11:13 GMT

Canada’s La Coop fédérée is to acquire all of Co-op Atlantic’s agricultural assets, pending regulatory approval.

Financial details of the deal are not being released.

The nod from the competition authorities is expected to come in the next 30-45 days, said Simon Baillargeon, general manager for grain and feed mill supplies at La Coop fédérée.

“By taking over the operation we want to make sure that farmers are served as they were before and increase our footprint [in that region],” he told FeedNavigator.

Coop fédérée has had a long history working with Co-op Atlantic, which is based in the Maritime Provinces of Canada. When the opportunity to purchase the majority of the agricultural facilities was offered it made sense to move forward, said Baillargeon.

“We were dealing with them as a supplier, now we’ll be the operators,” he said.

The deal brings the coop new feed mills in Moncton, Truro and New Minas, along with grain merchandising offices in Winnipeg and Monkton, he said. It also offers a warehouse location that is set to be a hub to transfer crop input products both to area stores and for export.

“It’s good news for [Co-op Atlantic] employees and producers, because the service will continue as it is currently, and we’ll work to improve the market share and offer new services by buying back their crops,” said Baillargeon.

Additionally, the deal is aligned with Coop fédérée’s overall plan to be a leader in the Canadian agricultural and agri-food sectors, said Baillargeon, with activity from coast-to-coast.

This is the third purchase for La Coop in recent years as they acquired the assets of Big Sky Farms in 2014 and it made the BMR group a wholly-owned subsidiary in February of 2015.

Livestock, crop and grains

Coop fédérée has a network of 98 affiliated co-operatives and more than 100,000 members with facilities located in multiple areas of Canada including Quebec, New Brunswick, Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Its business involves the three sectors of livestock, crops and grains, including crop protection seed and fertilizer production, and it has a partnership with animal nutrition research initiative, Co-operative Research Farms (CRF).

In 2014, Coop fédérée is said to have delivered about 2.2m metric tons of feed and traded about 1,625,000 metric tons of grain.

Including its affiliated cooperatives, La Coop fédérée has more than 16,000 employees with combined revenues of CAN $9.1bn.