A company born 22 years ago from the desire for an independent, farmer-owned grain handler is being convulsed by a bitter internal struggle over whether to stay in business or sell out.
Shareholders attending the annual meeting of Weyburn Inland Terminal Ltd. April 15 will choose between two slates of candidates for the board of directors, each representing opposite views of the firm’s future.
One group wants the firm to remain an independent player in the grain handling system, owned and operated by local farmers and shareholders.
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The other, calling itself Shareholders for Value, wants to sell all or part of the terminal to the highest bidder.
“This company seems to have thrived on turmoil over the years and I guess it hasn’t changed,” said president and chief executive officer Roy Levee, who has been involved with WIT for more than 20 years.
The group that wants to sell says that as the grain industry becomes more deregulated, small independent companies like WIT will inevitably be squeezed out by big firms like ConAgra, Archer Daniels Midland, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool or Agricore. They say the shareholders could gain a significant profit by putting the company up for sale now, although they have given no indication they have a particular buyer in mind.
The designated spokesperson for the dissident group could not be reached for comment by deadline.
The independent faction insists the company is in a strong position, with good earnings and dividends, a low level of debt, a modern and efficient terminal, a track record of solid performance and loyal and committed customers.
“We feel we can compete with the best of them,” said Levee. “The other group, for whatever reason, wants to cash in their chips and move on.”
It had appeared to some that the issue of WIT’s future had been resolved last December, when a special meeting of shareholders resoundingly rejected a proposal to form a strategic alliance with another grain company.
Just under 90 percent of eligible shares were voted, and 63 percent of the votes cast were against the proposal. Each of the company’s 927,650 outstanding common shares has the right to one vote at the meeting. That gives some comfort to those campaigning for the terminal to retain its traditional independent stance.
“I don’t really think it has changed that much, but there are different numbers being bandied about,” said Levee. “I guess the book will be written at the annual meeting.”
The current board is split 6 to 5 in favor of maintaining WIT’s independence. Both sides have put forward full slates of 11 candidates supporting their respective positions.
Harvey McEwen, a farmer from Francis, Sask., and a candidate on the independent slate, said he’s baffled that the group that wants to sell out includes some who were involved in the original decision to build the terminal.
The company’s founders didn’t like what the grain companies were doing at the time, he said, and were ready to take a big gamble to put more competition in the system.
“They went out on a limb and borrowed a whole pile of money. They had to fight and scrap and dig sand scratch to build it into a thriving, successful business,” he said.
