February 18, 2008

Viterra buys Oklahoma animal feed firm

Canadian agri-business Viterra's feed wing, Unifeed Hi-Pro announced it would be acquiring Oklahoma feed maker Sunrise Feed.

The deal is expected to close March 3.

"This agreement will increase our market presence across the Southwest USA. With additional production capacity we will be able to meet the growing needs of our customer base and extend our feed manufacturing and animal nutrition services to a larger market," said Bill McGill, VP Livestock Services at Viterra in a press release.

Viterra's Hi-Pro Feeds, acquired through the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool's acquisition of Agricore United, has had a strong presence in the Southwest USA for over 35 years.

Viterra now markets approximately 1.7 million tonnes of feed and ingredients to livestock, poultry, and dairy customers through Unifeed in Canada and Hi-Pro Feeds in the USA. T

Sunrise Feed operates 100,000-tonne-per-year capacity feed mills and retail outlets in the Oklahoma towns of Cheyenne and Elk City.  

Unifeed Hi-Pro operates as Unifeed in Canada and Hi-Pro Feeds in the US. Hi-Pro Feeds already runs three feed mills in Texas and New Mexico.

Viterra is the business name for Saskatchewan Wheat Pool Inc, with operations in Western Canada, US and Japan.