Thompsons buyout must obtain Competition Bureau approval
Monday, June 3, 2013
by SUSAN MANN
Two U.S. companies’ bid to buy Thompsons must obtain approval from Canada’s Competition Bureau before the deal can go ahead.
“We don’t expect any problems but I’ve never been through it before so I don’t know what that’s all about,” says Wes Thompson, CEO of the Blenheim-based grain handler and input provider.
Ontario farmers shouldn’t notice any disruption once the ownership changes hands later this year, says Thompson.
That’s because the two U.S. companies partnering on the acquisition – The Andersons, Inc. of Maumee, Ohio and Lansing Trade Group, LLC of Overland Park, Kansas – will continue operating it as Thompsons, the companies say in a joint press release.
Thompson, the third generation of his family to operate the business, declined to reveal the selling price.
Barry Senft, CEO of Grain Farmers of Ontario, says the sale is another example of the changes occurring in the grain and grain handling industry. “The two purchasers of Thompsons are strong and have an international presence within their respective organizations,” he says.
“It’s getting to be a real international market,” Senft adds. “The positive is you have two farm organizations with international representation that can maybe move product with better returns for producers.”
Thompson says it was a family decision to sell the 89-year-old business. “We looked at what would be the best thing for the next generation.”
The family considered whether it would be an opportunity or a liability for the next generation to operate Thompsons. “Moving it into the next generation wasn’t going to be the right thing for the 24 or 25 of them,” he says, noting that generation hasn’t been involved in the Thompsons business. The seven members of Wes’ generation have been part of the business.
Once that decision was made, Thompson says they just looked for what would be the best fit for the employees and customers. “We took some months to do that. We’re kind of happy with the way it turned out for us,” he says. “We think these are pretty good people that are coming in.”
Thompsons will continue to be a Canadian company operated by the current team of employees. “It will just have new owners,” he says. No employees will lose their jobs.
“I don’t think anyone’s going to notice any difference except in the long run I think their strategy for growth is probably more aggressive than our family’s was,” Thompson notes.
The Andersons, Inc. and Lansing Trade Group, LLC will own the business equally. The deal is subject to certain “customary closing conditions” and will be finalized at the beginning of the third quarter, they say in a June 3 press release. Lansing’s current trading office in Chatham will be consolidated into Thompsons.
Thompsons also operates in Minnesota, owns and operates 12 elevators, 11 retail farm centres, two seed processing plants, five soybean processing plants and a wheat processing plant. It has a combined owned and leased grain storage capacity of 20 million bushels and 30,000 tonnes of nutrient capacity. The business is a grain, food-grade bean handler and agronomy input provider. It exports products to food processors in more than 30 countries worldwide.
The Andersons, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is in the grain, ethanol and plant nutrient sectors along with railcar leasing, turf and cob products and consumer retailing. It does business across North America, the companies’ release says.
Lansing Trade Group was founded in 1920. It has offices throughout North America and in Geneva, Switzerland and Sao Paulo, Brazil. BF