The Andersons to buy Ontario group
6/4/2013The Andersons Inc. and Lansing Trade Group said Monday they’ve agreed to acquire Thompsons Ltd., a Canadian grain and food-grade bean handler based in Blenheim, Ontario.
Thompsons Ltd. has 12 locations in Ontario and one in Minnesota. The acquisition is expected to close in July, pending resolution of certain closing conditions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Canadian firm will be jointly owned by The Andersons and the Lansing Trade Group — a grain dealer in which Maumee-based The Andersons has a significant financial investment. Lansing Trade Group’s offices in Chatham, Ontario, will be consolidated into Thompson’s Ontario offices.
Lansing Trade Group has 12 North American offices, and the company is headquartered in Overland Park, Kan.
“For The Andersons, this acquisition establishes a foothold in Ontario with a similarly diversified agricultural company adjacent to our eastern corn-belt roots. It also enables us to leverage our strengths with those of our partner Lansing Trade Group,” Mike Anderson, CEO of The Andersons, said in a statement. “Thompsons is a highly respected, integrated, grain, food-grade bean, and agronomy business with a similar strategy of cultivating and maintaining strong relationships with growers and end users globally.”
Bill Krueger, president and CEO of Lansing Trade Group, said, “Thompsons Ltd. has always been a respected name in the Ontario agriculture markets. The opportunity for Lansing to grow our existing Canadian presence with such a cornerstone company fits our long-term strategy. Our partnership with The Andersons will facilitate the entity’s immediate growth in the crop nutrients sector.”
Thompsons owns 12 grain elevators, 11 retail farm centers, two seed processing plants, five bean processing plants, and a wheat processing plant. Its combined owned and leased grain storage capacity is 20 million bushels.