Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota
September 4, 2007
CHS Inc. and Land
O'Lakes, Inc. today announced they have completed the
repositioning of two of their Agriliance LLC joint venture
businesses. The Agriliance
crop protection products business has been transferred to Land
O'Lakes and the Agriliance
wholesale crop nutrients business has been transferred to CHS.
Additional details of the transaction will be disclosed in
separate 8-K filings by each parent company later today.
Land O'Lakes President and CEO Chris Policinski and CHS
President and CEO John Johnson said repositioning the businesses
is a sound strategic step for both companies and their
customers.
"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 in a joint statement.
Land O'Lakes said the crop protection products business, led by
Rod Schroeder, will be housed in a wholly owned subsidiary,
Winfield Solutions, LLC and will be 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 under a new WinField
Solutions(TM) market identity.
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 micronutrients and Croplan Genetics seed brands.
The crop protection products operation also includes an
extensive technology and education system.
CHS will integrate the crop nutrients business, under the
leadership of Cheryl Schmura, into its Ag Business segment,
which also includes grain and local retail operations. It will
provide 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 130 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.
In July, the two companies announced they were in exclusive
negotiations exploring the sale of The Agronomy Company of
Canada, ProSource One and Agriliance retail locations in the
southern U.S. to a group which includes certain members of the
Agriliance management team and financial backers. Those
negotiations continue.
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 crop nutrients to 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, and livestock
feed to rural America. CHS is listed on the NASDAQ at CHSCP.
Land O'Lakes, Inc. is a national, farmer-owned food and
agricultural cooperative with annual sales of more than $7
billion. Land O'Lakes is a Fortune 500 company which 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.
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