Shur-Gain
is part of a deal that has been struck to sell its owner, Nutreco, to a Dutch
investment company, SHV. It is a family-controlled company.
The offer
of $3.4 billion US is a 42 per cent premium over the recent market price for
company shares.
The offer
is conditional on buying all of the shares. The deal could also be terminated
if a third party were to bid eight per cent or more above the offer price.
Nutreco,
which is based at Amersfoort and had 2013 sales of 5.2 billion euros, said it
received guarantees from SHV that it would continue its growth strategy,
including acquisitions, and that it would keep its headquarters in the
Netherlands.
“SHV will
be an excellent partner, enabling us to maintain our corporate identity,
culture, values and organization,” said Knut Nesse, CEO of Nutreco.
Nutreco bought
the Shur-Gain and Landmark Feeds divisions from Maple Leaf Foods Inc. in 2007.
Landmark
is based in Manitoba and Shur-Gain operates mainly in Ontario and Quebec.
Nutreco’s Canadian head office is in Guelph.
Canada
Packers set up Shur-Gain in 1937 to complement its meat-packing business which
was mainly slaughtering hogs in Toronto.
Maple Leaf
Mills bought Canada Packers in 1990 and then the McCain family, backed by the
Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, bought Maple Leaf Mills Inc.
The
McCains then bought Schneider Corp. and earlier this year sold a number of
assets, including Canada Bread, Rothsay Concentrates rendering operations and
turkey farms and a processing plant.
