Grain Craft has been selected as the name for the business created by the combination of Cereal Food Processors, Inc., Milner Milling Co. and Pendleton Flour Mills. The acquisition of C.F.P. by Milner Milling and Pendleton was completed May 8, said Charles B. Stout, chief executive officer of Milner and Pendleton.
Grain Craft will be headquartered in Chattanooga.
Mr. Stout said the companies have received notification of the expiration of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act waiting period. A formal announcement of the transaction was to be made May 12 at C.F.P. headquarters in Mission Woods, Kas., where the name for the combined business was to be announced, Mr. Stout said. Grain Craft’s focus will be on long-term customer relationships, he said.
“All three companies have similar beliefs and philosophies about how to service the customer and how to do business,” he said. “These core values will only grow stronger as we become one company. We look forward to building on the tradition and heritage of all three of these great companies while creating a new leader in the flour milling industry.”
Plans for the acquisition were first announced March 10. The transaction triples the combined size of Milner/PFM. The new company will operate 16 mills in 11 states with a daily milling capacity of 166,260 cwts of flour and will lag only ADM Milling Co. (281,100 cwts) and Ardent Mills (expected to have capacity of 513,600 cwts). The formation of Ardent remains subject to regulatory approval.
Before the acquisition, C.F.P. operated mills in Los Angeles; Kansas City, Wichita and McPherson, Kas.; Great Falls and Billings, Mont.; Portland, Ore; and Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah. Privately-owned Milner had flour mill locations in Barnesville, Ga. (actually situated between Barnesville and Milner, Ga.); Rome, Ga.; and Birmingham, Ala. Milner was a 50% managing owner of Pendleton Flour Mills L.L.C., which owns flour mills in Pendleton, Ore.; Honolulu; and Blackfoot, Idaho. Kerr-Pacific Corp., Portland, is the other partner in Pendleton.
FourBridges served as the exclusive financial adviser to Milner and Pendleton on the transaction.
