Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota
June 21, 2007
CHS to acquire crop nutrients;
Land O’Lakes to acquire crop protection products
Agriliance LLC owners
Land O’Lakes, Inc.
and CHS Inc. today announced
that they are repositioning two business segments of the
Agriliance agronomy joint venture. CHS is acquiring the crop
nutrients wholesale distribution business. Land O’Lakes is
acquiring the crop protection products business, and will align
that business with the Land O’Lakes Seed division. Terms of the
transaction, expected to be completed in September 2007, will
not be disclosed until details are finalized.
Land O’Lakes President and CEO Chris Policinski and CHS
President and CEO John Johnson say repositioning the businesses
is the most appropriate strategic decision. “This repositioning
is consistent with our objective of maintaining the most
effective farmer-owned presence possible in the crop inputs
industry. By aligning each business segment with the core
competencies and strengths of each parent company, we can
intensify our focus in each of these key businesses, reduce
costs and even more effectively supply valuable crop inputs to
members and customers,” they said jointly.
Agriliance will continue as a Land O’Lakes/CHS joint venture and
operate its existing retail agronomy business.
The Agriliance crop nutrients business, which will be owned by
CHS, provides local retailers and producers with a dependable
supply of primary crop nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and
potassium). Its supply network includes a deep-water port at
Galveston, Texas, facilities at Memphis, Tenn., and
strategically located crop nutrients terminals.
Under CHS ownership, the crop nutrients business will benefit
from the company’s capabilities in logistics, distribution, risk
management, and global trading.
The Agriliance crop protection products operation, being
acquired by Land O’Lakes, includes the AgriSolutions line of
more than 200 adjuvants, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides,
defoliants and seed and grain protectants. These products are
manufactured at plants in Hampton, Iowa; St. Joseph, Mo.; and
Blytheville, Ark. The crop protection products operation also
includes an extensive technology and education system.
The crop protection products business will become an operating
unit of Land O’Lakes, closely aligned with the Land O’Lakes Seed
division. The two businesses will leverage combined technical
and marketing expertise in the implementation of a collaborative
go-to-market strategy. Among the anticipated changes are:
expanded joint promotions, marketing and brand building efforts;
coordinated service offerings; and new efficiencies through
shared customer service and distribution activities. These
efforts also are intended to enhance the cooperative system’s
AgriSolutions crop protection product, Origin micronutrient and
CROPLAN GENETICS seed brands.
Agriliance was formed in February, 2000, and is an agronomy
marketing joint venture owned by Land O’Lakes, Inc. (50 percent)
and CHS Inc. (50 percent). Agriliance is a distributor and
marketer of crop nutrients, crop protection products, seed
(through CROPLAN GENETICS brand) and related technical services
to crop producers through local cooperatives and, company-owned
retail locations and independent dealers in the U.S., Canada and
Mexico.
Land O’Lakes, Inc. is a national, farmer-owned food and
agricultural cooperative with annual sales of more than $7
billion. Land O'Lakes does business in all 50 states and more
than 50 countries. It is a leading marketer of a full line of
dairy-based consumer, foodservice and food ingredient products
across the United States; serves its international customers
with a variety of food and animal feed ingredients; and provides
farmers and ranchers with an extensive line of agricultural
supplies (feed, seed, crop nutrients and crop protection
products) and services. Land O’Lakes also provides agricultural
assistance and technical training in more than 25 developing
nations.
CHS Inc. is a diversified energy, grains and foods company
committed to providing the essential resources that enrich
lives. A Fortune 500 company, CHS is owned by farmers, ranchers
and cooperatives from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Northwest
and from the Canadian border to Texas, along with thousands of
preferred stockholders. CHS provides products and services
ranging from grain marketing to food processing to meet the
needs of customers around the world. It also operates petroleum
refineries/pipelines and, through a broad range of working
partnerships, markets and distributes Cenex brand energy
products and renewable fuels, along with agronomic inputs and
livestock feed to rural America. CHS is listed on the NASDAQ at
CHSCP. |
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