Maple Leaf Foods has entered into an agreement to acquire Puratone, a leading hog production company in Canada, for C$42m ($42m).
The acquisition includes livestock, facilities and interests in some joint ventures. The deal is expected to be completed within a month, subject to court and regulatory approvals.
Puratone operates about 50 barns in the province of Manitoba in proximity to Maple Leaf's Brandon facility and produces approximately 500,000 hogs annually. The company, headquartered in Manitoba, also owns three feed mills that support its hog production operations.
Maple Leaf Foods president and CEO Michael H McCain said the deal will facilitate consistent supply of hogs to the facility in Brandon, which supplies products for the company's prepared meats and pork business.
"This investment reflects our ongoing commitment to securing a strong future for our value added pork operations in Manitoba, which are a vital part of the province's economy," McCain added.
Maple Leaf noted that with this acquisition, it will control 30% of Brandon facility's hog supply, and will produce 1.2 million hogs annually. An integration team will be responsible for combining both the operations.
Maple Leaf Foods, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, operates across the following divisions: meat products, agribusiness, and bakery. It employs approximately 19,500 people at its operations across Canada and in the US, the United Kingdom, and Asia.
