Viterra Buys North American Pasta Company

Viterra, a provider of ingredients to global food manufacturers, has closed the acquisition of Dakota Growers Pasta Company (Dakota Growers), a producer and marketer of dry pasta products in North America.

Once the transaction is closed, Viterra will now operate an integrated durum mill and pasta production facility in Carrington, North Dakota and a pasta production unit in New Hope, Minnesota.

According to Viterra, the acquisition will boost its milling capabilities, and allow the company to leverage its relationships with premier food companies and expertise in durum origination and marketing.

The agreement represents a total enterprise value of $240m, which includes equity value and anticipated net cash/debt at closing, contingent upon certain adjustments for transaction costs and other closing adjustments.

Viterra said that all-cash transaction, structured as a tender offer followed by a merger of one of its subsidiary and Dakota Growers, was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and originally announced on March 10, 2010.

Mayo Schmidt, president and CEO of Viterra, said: We are very pleased to have successfully completed this acquisition and would like to thank stockholders of Dakota Growers for their overwhelming support.

“Joining our businesses is an excellent opportunity to create further value for our farmers and end use customers, and we look forward to building on our reputation for quality and performance with Dakota Growers' employees.

Viterra, headquartered in Canada, the global agribusiness has operations across Western Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, with Adelaide, Australia as the base for the company's Southeast Asian operations.

The company also has operations in the US, offices in Japan, Singapore, China and Switzerland. It operates in three distinct businesses: grain handling and marketing, agri-products, and value-added processing.