CWB, formerly known as the Canadian Wheat Board, plans to acquire complete ownership of a west-Saskatchewan grain handling organization of which it currently is a minority owner.
CWB announced today that it has agreed to buy all the outstanding shares of the farmer-owned Prairie West Terminal Ltd. for $43.2 million. Earlier this winter, CWB acquired 12.11 percent of Prairie West Terminal shares.
Prairie West Terminal's board of directors also agreed to the transaction, which is expected to come up for shareholder approval on or about May 30, according to a news release from CWB.
Prairie West Terminal's head office is located between Dodsland and Plenty, Saskatchewan. Prairie West Terminal operates grain handling facilities in Plenty, Dodsland, Luseland and Kindersley.
"We are excited to announce this agreement with Prairie West Terminal," CWB president and CEO Ian White said in the news release. "PWT has a solid reputation with its farmer customers, and in the community at large. CWB values farmers in this community and intends to foster the relationships that the organization has built with local farmers and the surrounding community."
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Today's announcement described CWB as having "a minority interest in Prairie West Terminal" without mentioning the two previously announced transactions in which CWB acquired a 12.11 percent stake in Prairie West Terminal.
In recent weeks CWB also has announced plans to build two "state-of-the-art" elevators, one near Colonsay, Saskatchewan and the other west Portage La Prairie in Bloom, Manitoba.
Dayna Spiring, chief strategy officer with the Winnipeg, Manitoba-based CWB, told Agweek earlier this winter that the organization plans to develop a "network of assets" with which to handle grain.
CWB markets crops such as wheat, durum, barley, canola and peas to customers around the world. The organization, which lost its marketing monopoly on Canadian wheat and barley in August 2012, has been relying on grain-handling facilities owned by rivals.
