Despite a change in ownership, it will be business as usual at Ridley Inc., says company chair Brian Hayward.
The feed company, which has its headquarters in Minnesota but has extensive operations in Western Canada under the Feed-Rite banner, was owned 69 percent by Ridley Corp. Ltd. of Australia.
That changed Sept. 24 when Ridley Corp. sold its 9.53 million shares in the feed company to Fairfax Financial Holdings, a Toronto-based financial services holding company, for $81 million.
The Australia-based company announced in May 2008 that it was open to offers for its North American subsidiary.
Read Also
Stacking Canada up on gene editing livestock
Canada may want to gauge how Argentina and other countries have approached gene editing in livestock and what that has meant for local innovation.
The day after the sale was announced, Hayward said Ridley Inc. has had limited contact with the new owners, but he thought it unlikely there would be significant changes.
He said Fairfax has a reputation as an astute investor with a solid record of success.
“I think they clearly see agriculture as a good long-term investment and my understanding is that they leave the operations of companies to the management people already in place,” he said.
Ridley Inc. produces feed, supplements and vitamin products at 41 plants and is one of the five largest feed companies in North America.
It reported after-tax profits of $6 million, or 43 cents per share, in the year ended June 30, 2008, down from $9 million (65 cents per share) the previous year.
The 2008 result reflects a $6 million payment to settle class action lawsuits arising from the BSE crisis. The suits claim Ridley was the source of contaminated feed that infected an Alberta cow in 2003.
There could be further liabilities depending on the outcome of another class action suit, this one against the federal government and Ridley that is working its way through the legal system.
Company officials have said the lawsuit was a major factor in the parent company’s decision to sell its shares.
Hayward said Ridley Inc. has been engaged in a strategic review in recent years, which included an assessment of various ownership options. The deal with Fairfax, which was negotiated privately, was not on the radar in that review.
Ridley Inc. was created when the Australian company purchased Feed-Rite Grain in 1994. It began buying other feed companies and in 1997 issued common shares for trading on the Toronto Exchange. It has continued to expand, primarily in the United States.
The company initially set up its head office in Winnipeg, but as it expanded into the U.S. it established corporate headquarters in Mankato, Minn., although its board of directors remains in Winnipeg.
