In today’s agricultural news, it seems like we hear a lot of companies consolidating in order to become more economically efficient. The Andersons Inc. announced that it has entered into a merger agreement with Lansing Trade Group, LLC, its long-time affiliate, to acquire the 67.5 percent of Lansing equity that it does not already own for cash and stock currently valued at a total of approximately $305 million.
The Andersons is a diversified company rooted in agriculture, conducting business across North America in the grain, ethanol, plant nutrient, and rail sectors. Lansing Trade Group is focused on the movement of physical commodities including grains, feed ingredients, energy products, and freight within North America and internationally. It owns approximately 55 million bushels of grain storage space and traded more than 1 billion bushels of grain in 2017.
In addition to paying approximately $175 million in cash, the company will issue unregistered shares to current Lansing equity holders presently valued at approximately $130 million, subject to certain closing adjustments and changes in the share price of Andersons stock, respectively. The transaction will also result in the consolidation of Thompsons Limited of Ontario, Canada, and related entities as they have been jointly owned by Lansing and the Company.
Lansing will be integrated with The Andersons’ Grain Group, and the combined operation will be jointly led by Corey Jorgenson, president of The Andersons Grain Group, and Bill Krueger, president and CEO of Lansing Trade Group.
“This acquisition creates a grain business of highly complementary assets with greater scale that significantly expands our reach in the agricultural marketplace,” said Pat Bowe, President and CEO of The Andersons. “We firmly believe the union of these core agricultural businesses will allow us to compete more successfully, provide greater value across an expanded platform, and grow more profitably. The new, larger organization will provide significant career opportunities for our employees,” Bowe continued.
