WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA — Richardson International Limited announced on May 1 that it has officially acquired a significant number of Viterra assets through an agreement announced last March to acquire in excess of C$800 million worth of Viterra assets from Glencore.

Richardson has acquired 19 country elevators and 13 crop input centers co-located with those elevators formerly owned and operated by Viterra. These facilities will complement the Richardson Pioneer network of grain handling and crop input facilities across Western Canada. Richardson has also acquired a Viterra terminal in Thunder Bay, which will increase capacity and enhance the company’s operations through that port. The transfer of other assets acquired by Richardson pursuant to the purchase agreement will be finalized in the near future.

Richardson paid Viterra approximately C$96 million on closing of the asset transfer to Richardson on account of the purchase price adjustment in accordance with the provisions of the Richardson agreement, Viterra said.

“This is an important milestone in our company history and it is especially significant as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Richardson Pioneer in 2013,” said Curt Vossen, president and chief executive officer of Richardson International. “Through this acquisition, we are growing our business substantially, both in terms of assets and people. By increasing our presence in many communities across Western Canada, we look forward to enhancing our ability to serve customers in new and existing markets.”

Richardson has also acquired Viterra’s milling business. This includes Canadian oat processing plants in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Martensville, Saskatchewan and Barrhead, Alberta, as well as an oat processing plant in South Sioux City, Nebraska, U.S., and a wheat mill in Dawn, Texas, U.S. These businesses will now operate as Richardson Milling.

“We are excited to continue our diversification into value-added processing and build on the success we have achieved in canola processing,” said Vossen. “The oats processing business also provides us with an opportunity to establish a presence in the U.S., which will increase our profile and enhance our ability to meet the needs of the global marketplace.”

Viterra also said that it has completed sale of its minority interest in a nitrogen facility located in Medicine Hat, Alberta to CF Industries Holdings, Inc., the purchaser nominated by Agrium Inc. (Agrium). The sale reduced by C$995 million the outstanding loan provided by Agrium in accordance with the provisions of the support and purchase agreement between, among others, Viterra and Agrium.

Viterra will pay Agrium approximately C$75 million as a partial purchase price adjustment and the material purchase price adjustments under the Agrium agreement have not been determined at this time.