Another asset formerly owned by Viterra is being sold off by Swiss commodity trader Glencore Xstrata.
Glencore confirmed today that is selling Dakota Growers Pasta Company in North Dakota to Post Holdings Inc. for $370 million.
Post, a St. Louis, Missouri, based cereal maker whose products include Honeycomb, Alpha Bits, Raisin Bran and Shreddies, said it expects the deal to close in January, subject to certain conditions.
The sale of Dakota Growers Pasta is the latest in a string of asset sales approved by Glencore Xstrata since it acquired Viterra’s global agri-food empire last year in a deal valued at more than $6 billion.
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Glencore has also sold Viterra’s agricultural retail centres in Australia and Canada, its Canadian and American oat milling operations and its Australian malting assets, which include seven malting facilities.
Dakota Growers is one of the largest pasta producers in the United States.
It has milling and pasta production facilities at Carrington, North Dakota, and New Hope, Minnesota.
The acquisition is expected to boost annual sales at Post by about $300 million, Post officials said.
Dakota Growers will be managed independently from other Post Holdings businesses.
Post will retain Dakota Growers’ existing management team led by Ed Irion, the company’s-vice president and general manager.
“I am delighted to welcome Ed, his team, and the Dakota Growers associates into the growing family of Post Holdings’ companies,” Post chair and chief executive officer William P. Stiritz said in a news release.
“With Dakota Growers, Post continues to expand its portfolio into segments of the overall food industry, where it sees opportunities to grow and diversify its strong cash flow.”
Viterra purchased Dakota Growers in 2010 for $240 million.
The U.S. company was established in the early 1990s as a wheat growers’ co-operative.
In 2010, it was the third largest producer and marketer of dry pasta products in North America, involved primarily in supplying ingredient, food service and private label retail markets.
Durum milling capacity at Dakota Growers was estimated in 2010 at 1,000 tonnes a day, with an annual pasta output of 560 million pounds processed through 14 production lines.
