REGINA (Staff) – The delay in Saskatchewan Wheat Pool’s plan to go public caused the company to miss bidding on Canada Malting Ltd., says chief executive officer Don Loewen.
Loewen told delegates at the pool’s annual meeting Nov. 22 that the share conversion was delayed by a sluggish stock market and that meant missing some attractive business opportunities.
“I had been keeping my eye on that company for some time and there was no question that we, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, were very interested in Canada Malt,” Loewen told reporters.
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Canada Malting was bought by the American company ConAgra last week.
He said the pool required partners to complete the deal, and would have built on the successful malt barley business the company already has in Prairie Malt at Biggar, Sask.
“You can’t be doing a major acquisition of that size when the share conversion process isn’t in place,” he said.
Loewen said once the equity conversion is complete the company will be looking at other value-added acquisitions.
“The most recent evidence of the correctness of such a strategy comes from some of our competitors who are almost solely reliant on grain handling and farm supply sales for their earnings,” he said. “Their year-end results are not very positive.”
The pool’s associated companies earned more than $30 million last year.
