December 21, 2012

Richardson International Limited has received approval from the competition bureau to proceed with its transaction with Glencore and will be working with Glencore to close the transaction as soon as possible in 2013.

"We are pleased to finalise this deal and acquire these assets, which will allow us to provide Western Canadian farmers with more choice in the marketplace and improved access to products and services," says Curt Vossen, president of Richardson International.  "This is a very exciting time for Richardson as we strengthen our presence in Western Canada and continue to grow our business for the future."

Last March, Winnipeg-based Richardson announced that it had reached an agreement with Glencore to acquire in excess of US$800 million worth of Viterra assets, including grain handling, crop input and processing assets and related working capital, following Glencore's successful acquisition of Viterra. Earlier this week, Glencore announced that it has completed its acquisition of Viterra.

Richardson will be acquiring 19 country elevators and the crop input centres co-located with those elevators, which complement the Richardson Pioneer network of grain elevators and crop input centres across Western Canada. Richardson's agreement with Glencore also includes the purchase of a 25% ownership interest in Cascadia Terminal in Vancouver and the acquisition of a Viterra terminal in Thunder Bay.

Richardson is also purchasing the Can-Oat Milling business with oat processing plants in Portage la Prairie, MB, Martensville, SK and Barrhead, AB, and 21st Century Grain Processing, which has an oat processing plant in South Sioux City, NE and a wheat mill in Dawn, TX.

Richardson International is Canada's largest, privately owned agribusiness and a worldwide handler and merchandiser of all major Canadian-grown grains and oilseeds.