Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Agriculture |
Founded | 1993 |
Headquarters | Rotterdam, Netherlands |
Key people | Kyle Jeworski |
Website | www |
Viterra Limited is a Canadian grain handling business, that began as the nation's largest grain handler, with its historic formative roots in prairie grain-handling cooperatives, among them the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. [1] Viterra Inc grew into a global agri-business with operations in Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and China. Viterra operated three distinct, inter-related businesses: Grain Handling & Marketing, Agri-Products and Processing, enabling it to generate earnings at various points on the food production chain from field to the table. Following its $6.1-billion acquisition by Glencore International, on 1 January 2013, Viterra was merged with Glencore purchaser, 8115222 Canada Inc., [1] headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Viterra's grain handling and marketing operations were located primarily in two of the world's most fertile regions: Western Canada and South Australia. The company owns and operates grain terminals in Western Canada, along with 95% of the grain handling and storage facilities in South Australia. The company ships grain to markets worldwide. [2]
Viterra was also one of the largest agri-product retailers in Canada, with a network of more than 250 retail locations throughout the Prairies. As part of this business, Viterra owned a 34% interest in Canadian Fertilizer Limited CFI, a large urea and ammonia plant.
The company also operated several value-added processing businesses, including wholly owned subsidiaries like Dakota Growers Pasta Company, 21st Century Grain, making it the largest producer of industrial oats in North America, the third largest producer of pasta on the continent, the largest malt producer in Australia, a large producer of canola and a leading producer of animal feed in New Zealand.
At the time of the Glencore's March 2012, back-to-back purchase-and-agreement of Viterra's assets to Agrium, which paved the way for Glencore's purchase of Viterra, in December 2012, Viterra was generating "$2.4-billion in revenue and $244-million in EBITDA" and operated a "network of 258 agri-products retail locations throughout Western Canada and 17 retail locations in Australia. Retail locations offer fertilizer, crop protection products, seed and equipment to growers. Viterra also has a minority interest in a nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing plant in Medicine Hat, Alberta." [3]
Viterra Inc. was formed in 2007 as a publicly traded corporation when the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool acquired Agricore United, which was at that time the largest grain handler in Western Canada. Viterra's predecessors were the grain-trading co-operatives set up in Canada during the 1920s known as the wheat pools. It has since acquired the former Australian government-sponsored monopsony marketing board, the Australian Barley Board, created in 1939.
Grain Growers Grain Company (1906-2008) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saskatchewan Cooperative Elevator Company (1911–1926) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
United Grain Growers (1917–2001) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saskatchewan Co-Operative Wheat Producers (1923–1953) | Alberta Wheat Pool (1923–1998) | Manitoba Pool Elevators (1926–1998) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Australian Barley Board (1939–1999) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sask. Wheat Pool (1953–2007) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Agricore (1998-2001) | AusBulk formerly South Australian Cooperative Bulk Handling (SACBH) (?-2004) | United Grower Holdings (?-2004) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Agricore United (2001–2007) | ABB Grain (1999–2009) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
VITERRA (2007-2013) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On 19 May 2009, Viterra announced it would buy Australian ABB Grain for C$1.4 billion. [4] On 9 September, 84 percent of ABB shareholders voted in favour of the merger, with 75 percent required to pass the resolution. [5]
On March 15, 2012, Viterra announced that it had received takeover offers from multiple parties. [6] Glencore was revealed to have offered a takeover bid of $6.1 billion. [7] It intended to immediately sell off its Canadian assets to Agrium and Richardson International while retaining Viterra's overseas assets. [8] The takeover deal was completed in December 2012. [9]
Following Glencore's takeover of Viterra in December 2012, Viterra underwent some major changes. Viterra Inc. (Viterra) was acquired by a Glencore purchaser, 8115222 Canada Inc. and merged under the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA). The new board of directors includes Mr. Chris Mahoney (Director of Agricultural Products of Glencore), Mr. Ernest Mostert (Financial Manager of Glencore Grain), Mr. Robert Wardell and Mr. Larry Ruud (President & CEO One Earth Farms Corp). [10]
In preparation for Glencore's acquisition of Viterra in December 2012, in March 2012, Agrium Inc entered into a $1.15bn sale agreement with Glencore, who in this way divested "90 percent of Viterra’s Canadian retail facilities, all of its Australian retail facilities, as well as their minority position in a nitrogen facility located in Medicine Hat, Alberta." [3]
In 2016, Glencore sold a minority stake in the business to the Canada Pension Plan, who paid "US$2.5 billion for a 40 percent stake" in its global agricultural assets, by then renamed "Glencore Agriculture". [11]
In 2020, Glencore Agriculture rebranded to Viterra and created a new brand identity, building off the Viterra brand that was created in 2007. [12]
In 2022, Gavilon was purchased by Viterra for $1.1 billion. It is expected Gavilon will be fulling integrated in Viterra by early 2023. [13]
In 2023, a merger with Bunge Limited was announced. [14]
Bunge Global SA (BUN-ghee) is a global agribusiness and food company, incorporated in Geneva, Switzerland and headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits it in a silo or other storage facility.
Agrium Inc. was a major retail supplier of agricultural products and services in North America, South America and Australia and a wholesale producer and marketer of all three major agricultural nutrients and a supplier of specialty fertilizers in North America.
Agricore United, Inc. was a farmer-directed agribusiness in Canada. It supplied crop nutrition and crop protection products, and offered grain handling and marketing services. It was created on November 1, 2001 by the merger of Agricore and United Grain Growers. It was headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Its shares were publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol "AU" until June 15, 2007, when it was taken over by the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. Agri-business giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) had a 28% stake in the company at the time of the takeover.
An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a producer cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activities.
The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, also known as PotashCorp, was a company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The company merged with Calgary-based Agrium to form Nutrien, in a transaction that closed on January 1, 2018.
AWB Limited was a major grain marketing organisation based in Australia. Founded in 1939 by the Government of Australia as the Australian Wheat Board, in 1999 it became a private company, owned by wheat growers. It was acquired by Agrium in 2010.
Dakota Growers Pasta Company is an American brand of pasta and food processing, currently owned by 8th Avenue, a company of Post Holdings. The former Dakota Growers agricultural processing company was located in Carrington, North Dakota, having started in 1990 as a wheat-growers cooperative. In 2002, Dakota Growers became a public company.
Canada is one of the largest agricultural producers and exporters in the world. As with other developed nations, the proportion of the population agriculture employed and agricultural GDP as a percentage of the national GDP fell dramatically over the 20th century, but it remains an important element of the Canadian economy. A wide range of agriculture is practised in Canada, from sprawling wheat fields of the prairies to summer produce of the Okanagan valley. In the federal government, overview of Canadian agriculture is the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food.
The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool was a grain handling, agri-food processing and marketing company based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Pool created a network of marketing alliances in North America and internationally which made it the largest agricultural grain handling operation in the province of Saskatchewan. Before becoming Viterra, SWP had operated 276 retail outlets and more than 100 grain handling and marketing centres. The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool operated under the name of AgPro in the prairie provinces of Manitoba and Alberta. Begun as a co-operative in the 1920s, the company became a publicly traded corporation in the 1990s. After the 2007 takeover of its competitor, Winnipeg-based Agricore United, the Pool name was retired. The merged company operated under the name Viterra until 2013, when it was acquired by Glencore International.
Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. is a global, full-service investment banking and financial services company that specializes in wealth management and brokerage in capital markets. It is the largest independent investment dealer in Canada. The firm focuses on growth companies, with operations in 10 countries worldwide and the ability to list companies on 10 stock exchanges. Canaccord Genuity, the international capital markets division, is based in Canada, with offices in the US, the UK, France, Germany, Ireland, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Dubai, Australia, Barbados, and The Bahamas.
ABB Grain was Australia's largest agribusiness. Founded in 1939, the company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange until its takeover by Viterra in 2009. For most of its history, the company focused solely on grain accumulation and marketing, but it eventually expanded its focus to other activities, such as grain receival and storage, malting and fertilisers.ABB bought grain from all growing regions in Australia and traded in all grain commodities.
A wheat pool is a co-operative that markets grain on behalf of its farmer-members.
Richardson International Limited is a privately held Canadian agricultural and food industry company headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The company is one of several companies that are owned by James Richardson & Sons Limited. The company is a worldwide handler and merchandiser of all major Canadian-grown grains and oilseeds and a vertically integrated processor and manufacturer of oats and canola-based products. Richardson has over 2,500 employees across Canada, the U.S. and U.K. Richardson International is a subsidiary of James Richardson & Sons, Limited, established in 1857.
The economy of Saskatchewan has been associated with agriculture resulting in the moniker "Bread Basket of Canada" and Bread Basket of the World. According to the Government of Saskatchewan, approximately 95% of all items produced in Saskatchewan, depend on the basic resources available within the province. Various grains, livestock, oil and gas, potash, uranium, wood and their spin off industries fuel the economy.
Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL), operating as Co-op, is a co-operative federation providing procurement and distribution to member co-operatives in Western Canada. It was established in 1944 after a series of amalgamations of smaller cooperatives, starting in Saskatchewan, including the Saskatchewan Co-operative Wholesale Society and a fuel production and distribution co-op, the Consumers’ Co-operative Refinery Limited. Federated had expanded to Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia by 1970. Federated Co-operatives is owned by about 160 member co-operatives across the region. Some are large co-operatives, such as Saskatoon Co-op, while others are small co-ops based in small towns, such as Abernethy Co-op.
Manitoba Pool Elevators was a grain trade company founded in 1924. It became a subsidiary of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool until November 1932, when the Pool declared bankruptcy. In 1998 Alberta Wheat Pool and Manitoba Pool Elevators merged to form Agricore Cooperative Limited. In 2001, United Grain Growers combined its business operations with Agricore Cooperative Ltd. and carried on business as Agricore United, a publicly traded company, no longer a farmer-owned cooperative. In 2007, Agricore United was taken over by the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, another publicly traded company. The merged corporation was renamed Viterra.
Gavilon is a commodity management firm based in Omaha, Nebraska. The company is organized into two operating segments:
The Newcastle Agri Terminal (NAT) is an intermodal dry bulk cargo port operator located in Carrington, New South Wales. It is located within the Carrington Precinct of the Port of Newcastle utilising the Dyke 2 berth.
Nutrien is a Canadian fertilizer company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It is the largest producer of potash and the third largest producer of nitrogen fertilizer in the world. It has over 2,000 retail locations across North America, South America, and Australia with more than 23,500 employees. It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange, with a market capitalization of $34 billion as of January 2018. It was formed through the merger of PotashCorp and Agrium, in a transaction that closed on January 1, 2018.