There’s still lots of time left in the game, but Alex Graham has no doubt about the outcome.
When the clock reads 0:00, he says, Alberta Wheat Pool and Manitoba Pool Elevators will become one company.
“We are going to merge these organizations,” the AWP president said last week. “I’m confident that we are doing absolutely the right thing.”
The final buzzer will sound at the end of July, when the two pools’ delegates will make the historic decision whether to turn their two companies into one.
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Details of the proposed new company will be sent to delegates and employees and released to the public July 9. The delegate meetings are set for July 30-31.
In mid-April, the companies began serious discussions to figure out whether there would be economic advantages in creating a grain handling co-operative with operations prairie-wide, including Saskatchewan.
The decision was made after a breakdown of preliminary talks about a merger involving all three prairie pools, including Saskatchewan Wheat Pool.
Neither Alberta nor Manitoba pools would reveal details of their discussions, insisting no conclusions have been reached.
But Graham was upbeat about the outcome.
“It’s going just like we thought it would,” he said. “We’ve got people that want to work together, that want to make it happen, that are looking at it for the benefit of western Canadian farmers as a whole and to do what’s right for the shareholders.”
Manitoba pool president Charlie Swanson was more circumspect than Graham, but also expressed confidence the talks would end in success.
“I feel very positive about it, but as we said at our spring delegates meeting, we will be guided by the result of the business analysis,” he said.
“We’re waiting until we get all the information before we arrive at any conclusions or recommendations for delegates.”
Proponents say the company created by a merger will be in a better position to deal with issues like globalization and the weakening of trade barriers, increased competition from foreign-owned grain companies, the possibility of a deregulated grain market and the need for diversification and expansion.
While much of the work and analysis is being done by pool management, the overall merger talks are being directed by a 10-member team from the consulting firm Deloitte and Touche. Each pool also has its own financial adviser, Toronto Dominion Securities working with AWP and ScotiaMcLeod working with MPE.
The business plan is designed to describe every aspect of a merged company, from its financial structure and head office location to its bylaws, democratic organization and staffing.
Uncertainty over the future is creating anxiety and rumors at the two companies’ head offices, where job losses are inevitable.
“We can’t say relax, nothing will happen, because that would be a fib,” said Alberta pool chief executive officer Gordon Cummings.
He said a merged company might need more total employees, assuming its business expands, but there is no doubt there will be duplication in some head office jobs and reductions in some positions.
A new name is also in order. That is in the hands of a California-based consulting company that specializes in corporate names.
