Friday, April 26, 2019 • Vol.123 No. 39 • Neepawa, Manitoba
Conlon Barley
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Inside HyLife sold to Thai ag conglomerate this week
Founders sell stake for nearly half a billion dollars
By K. Jackman-Atkinson Neepawa Banner & Press
News- Page 9 Local support for Palliative Care
Sports - Page 12 Neepawa GCC growing the game
It’s expected to be business as usual at Neepawa’s HyLife Foods processing plant, after an upcoming change in ownership was announced early this week. On Apr. 21, news broke that Thailand’s largest agriculture conglomerate, Charoen Pokphand Foods Pcl (CPF), had signed a share purchase agreement with the Founder Management Group of HyLife, the integrated pork production company that owns the Neepawa pork processing plant. The deal, reported by Reuters to be worth C$498 million, will see CPF take on a 50.1 per cent ownership stake in the company. Japanese general trading company, ITOCHU, will retain its 49.9 per cent stake. Early on Apr. 22, a letter went out to HyLife’s suppliers, customers and partners to let them know about the deal. “Other than the change in ownership, you can expect it to be business as usual at HyLife,” said the letter, signed by president Claude Vielfaure, chairman Don Janzen, executive
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COO Denis Vielfaure and CEO Grant Lazaruk. W hile the purchase agreement was signed over the weekend, the deal isn’t expected to close until the third quarter of 2019. Claude Vielfaure said that it must first pass regulatory approval, not just in Canada and Thailand, but in all the countries where CPF does business. “It can take three to six months,” he explained. CPF operates in 17 countries and exports to over 30 countries. Once the deal closes, Claude Vielfaure, Don Janzen and Denis Vielfaure will retire and Grant Lazaruk will become president and CEO of HyLife. Growth expected HyLife had been looking at strategic options and Claude Vielfaure explained why the deal with CPF is so attractive, “They’re a family-owed company and the third largest pig producer in the world. The synergies are very similar.” He added that both companies will be able to learn from each other and exchange ideas, “It’s really exciting.” CPF operates in both
PHOTO BY EOIN DEVEREUX
The HyLife Foods processing plant in Neepawa provides employment to over 1,300 people.
the livestock and aquaculture industries and Claude expects multiple benefits to come from the deal. These include building on the success of HyLife’s growing global pork business; combining forces to propel the growing demand for HyLife’s high-quality pork and enable the company to grow its integrated pork company domestically and internationally; and showcase HyLife’s outstanding
network of Manitoba suppliers, customers and community partners across the world. HyLife has focused on the premium pork market, which has required additional investments, but it was the owners’ goal from the start. “We always wanted to be more than a commodity,” said Claude. He said past investments have allowed them to extend into branded pork products and produce
pork that they feel is the best in the world. ‘Nothing is changing’ Looking at the Neepawa operations specifically, Claude said that they are a vital part of HyLife. Since purchasing the Springhill Farms plant in 2008, HyLife invested heavily in the Neepawa processing plant, most recently building a new $176 million cut floor. Continued on page 8
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