Legumex Walker Completes Acquisition of Keystone Grain Ltd.
- Acquisition of Canada's Largest Sunflower Processer/Marketer Significantly Strengthens Position in Bakery Ingredient Market -
WINNIPEG, Oct. 1, 2012 /CNW/ - Legumex Walker Inc. (TSX: LWP), today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Keystone Grain Ltd. ("Keystone"), a leading Manitoba-based processor and marketer of sunflowers, flax, specialty crops and organic commodities for $1.28 million in cash and 587,437 in its common shares. In addition, the Keystone vendors received 660,000 warrants at $9.50 per share, which expire two years from the date of closing of the transaction. The acquisition included $4.0 in working capital at Keystone and the assumption of $4.8 million in Keystone long-term debt, as adjusted for debt assumed by the vendors.
"We are thrilled to have completed this transaction and I would like to publicly thank all those at both companies, as well as our advisors, who have worked so diligently and tirelessly to bring this through to fruition," said Joel Horn, President and Chief Executive Officer, Legumex Walker. "I would also like to welcome the Keystone team to the Legumex Walker family. We look forward to pursuing the new opportunities we have as one of North America's largest processors and marketers of sunflowers and related products to the growing bakery ingredients market, as well as opportunities afforded by our entry into the lucrative retail bird food market."
Keystone's assets include a sunflower processing facility (40,000 metric tons annual capacity) and a flax processing facility (11,500 metric tons annual capacity) in Winkler, Manitoba and a bird food processing facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba (11,500 metric tons annual capacity). Keystone processes and markets a variety of food-grade products, primarily focusing on sunflower and flax products, including bakery sunflower kernels and confectionary sunflower kernels and several varieties of both milled and non-milled flax. Keystone also processes and markets custom private label birdfood products and retail wild bird food products, and packs wild birdfood products under the Emerald Farms label for the retail market, including several large North American big box retailers.
Legumex Walker was advised in this transaction by Cormark Securities Inc.
About Legumex Walker Inc.
Legumex Walker is a growth-oriented processor and merchandiser of pulses (lentils, peas, beans and chickpeas), other special crops and canola products. The Company is one of the largest processors of pulses and other special crops in Canada. Following the close of the Keystone transaction, LWP will have 14 processing facilities strategically located in key growing regions in the Canadian Prairie Provinces, the American Midwest, and China, a global sales, logistics, and distribution platform and access to multimodal transportation capabilities. In addition the Company has an 85 percent interest in Pacific Coast Canola, LLC, a company that is constructing a canola oilseed processing facility in Washington State.
This press release contains "forward‐looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws, which may include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the Company's expectations for the performance of Keystone, and opportunities in the sunflower seeds market. Such forward‐looking information reflects the Company's view with respect to future events and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including risks associated with the integration of the Keystone operations with the Company's current operations and those set out in the Annual Information Form of Legumex Walker for the year ended December 31, 2011 and in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for the period ended June 30, 2012, which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and which should be reviewed in conjunction with the press release available at www.sedar.com. The Company does not undertake to update forward‐looking statements or forward‐looking information, except as required by law.
SOURCE: Legumex Walker Inc.
INVESTOR & MEDIA RELATIONS
Marin Landis
Manager of Investor Relations - Legumex Walker Inc.
[email protected]
(206) 535-2427
Lawrence Chamberlain
TMX Equicom
[email protected]
(416) 815-0700 ext. 257
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