The company is looking to expand its storing and hauling capacity over the next few years in Montana and the Dakotas. The company also wants to expand its ability to ship crops through the Gulf of Mexico by investing in terminals on the Mississippi River.
In February, Gavilon announced the appointment of Lewis Batchelder as chief executive officer. Batchelder has more than 40 years of experience in the grain industry. He has served as senior vice-president, agricultural services at Archer Daniels Midland Co., and as chairman of Alfred C. Toepfer International, a global merchandiser of agricultural commodities and processed products.
In January, Marubeni announced that it was halving its annual profit forecast due to an impairment charge for its Gavilon grain unit. The company said Gavilon’s performance is expected to fall short of the original business plan, as was the case in the previous fiscal year. Because of this, the company said it conducted a review of Gavilon’s business plan, and expects to recognize an impairment loss of 50 billion yen ($456 million).
According to Sosland Publishing’s 2016 Grain and Milling Annual, Gavilon is the second largest grain storage company in the U.S. It currently has 136 grain storage facilities, has grain storage capacity of 351.8 million bushels, 3 port facilities, 11 river facilities, 40 subterminal facilities, 9 terminal facilities and 73 country elevators.
In July 2013, Marubeni purchased Gavilon for $2.7 billion. Prior to that, Gavilon was a privately-held company. It was established in 2008 with the sale by ConAgra Foods Inc. of its Trading and Merchandising business to Ospraie Management LLC Special Opportunities Fund in a $2.1 billion transaction. With the sale, the business was renamed Gavilon LLC. Ospraie remains the principal owner of the business.
