Legumex Walker Inc. has been cranking out news releases.
On Oct. 1, the company announced it had completed acquisition of Keystone Grain Ltd., a Manitoba processor and seller of sunflower, flax and other specialty crops.
A day later, it announced a syndicate of underwriters had agreed to buy 1,742,000 common shares for $13.5 million with an option to buy an additional 193,500 shares for $1.5 million.
The next day, it announced that the share offering had been bumped up to $15.1 million with an option for another $1.5 million.
Company president Joel Horn said shareholder interest in the stock bought by the underwriters was so intense it needed to expand the offering.
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“People had wanted to own our stock and there really hasn’t been stock available,” he said.
The new offering sell, it will represent 13 percent of the company’s 13.8 million common shares.
Horn was surprised the bank syndicate was back at his door so quickly asking to sell a larger share of the company to the public.
“It was exciting. We weren’t expecting that,” he said.
“It was exciting to have so many people want to own our stock.”
Horn sees it as a vote of confidence in the company’s direction since it became publicly traded last year.
“There’s a sense that we’re implementing our growth strategy maybe faster than people thought we would,” he said.
Since its inception, the company has begun construction of a canola processing plant in Warden, Washington, bought a bean processor and a sunflower seed processor in Minnesota, built a bean processing plant in China and bought Keystone Grain.
Horn said the new capital will be used to expand its existing 14 processing plants and acquire new assets.
“The concept is to be able to have a global company that can meet our customer demands regardless of weather issues, currency fluctuation issues and political instability issues.”
The company intends to continue diversifying into high margin products such as beans and sunflower and into new regions of the world.
Almost all of the assets of Roy Legumex Group of Companies and Walker Seeds Ltd. were in Canada when the companies merged. Today, 20 percent of Legumex Walker’s holdings are in the United States and China.
Horn said it’s hard to know when the next acquisition will come together, but the company is exploring prospective purchases.
“Oh sure, we’re constantly in discussions with people,” he said.
