South West Ag Buys Palmerston Grain

Sep 03, 2014

South West Ag Partners Inc. said that it will acquire Palmerston Grain Ltd., headquartered in Palmerston, Ont. The Chatham-based company says the deal will allow South West Ag Partners to grow its grain business, expand its geographical footprint, and offer a “suite of unique risk management tools” for their customers.

Assets of the deal include, the grain elevator facility located on the 5^th Line of Minto Township (which has a 2.1 million bushels of storage capacity), Identity Preserved (premium and / or niche) market grain capacity), and the grain handling technology. The purchase will increase South West Ag Partners business capacity by about 50 percent

While the details of the transaction were not disclosed, company officials say that the business will continue to operate under the Palmerston Grain name, and that no jobs are expected to be lost or created through the acquisition. The general manager of Palmerston Grain, Archie Wilson, will remain on staff.

According to a release issued Tuesday [September 2], C & M Seeds in Palmerston is not part of the purchase. The McLaughlin family will remain owners of C & M Seeds, but are spinning off the Palerston Grain portion of the operation. Palmerston Grain was established in 1983 by the Mclaughlin family, are buyers and marketers of wheat, corn, soybeans, and canola, which serve Midwestern, Southwestern and Eastern Ontario.

“We are very comfortable and confident that Palmerston Grain is staying in the hands of people like ourselves [who] are committed to the ag industry, operate a first-rate business, and care about their customers, employees and the local farm community,” John McLaughlin said in a release.

The deal is expected to close within the first week of September 2014.