Milling & Baking News - June 2, 2009 - 9

Business

Flowers Foods acquires bakery
mix plant from General Mills
THOMASVILLE, GA. - Flowers
Foods, Inc. has acquired the Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, bread mix plant of
Minneapolis-based General Mills,
Inc. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
According to Flowers Foods, the
acquired facility will become part
of a strong support business for the
company and will be called Specialty
Blending Co., L.L.C. The plant will
supply Flowers, along with other
U.S. bakers, with fresh bread mixes.

"It is a first-class operation with
a first-class team producing highquality mixes," said Mary Krier,
vice-president of communications
for Flowers Foods. "Our plan is to
continue operating and growing
this business."
Asked about the acquisition
last week on a conference call
with securities analysts, George
E. Deese, chairman, president and
chief executive officer of Flowers
Foods, described the transaction as

ADM Milling adding capacity at
three U.S. wheat flour mills
DECATUR, ILL. - Archer Daniels
Midland Co. said it will increase its
North American wheat flour capacity at three U.S. wheat flour mills in
Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Spokane, Wash., by a combined 7,500
cwts per day, and has modified an
existing milling unit at its Buffalo,
N.Y., facility to add soft wheat flour
production.
"The expanded capacity will further strengthen ADM's North American supply network and support

regional demand growth," the company said.
As part of the expansion, ADM
said it will expand its Spokane mill to
12,500 cwts per day from 10,500 cwts
per day. Construction is under way
and is expected to be completed in
mid-2009, the company said.
In Los Angeles, ADM will expand
its facility to 11,800 cwts from 10,800
cwts, with expansion expected to be
completed in mid-2009.
ADM said it will convert one of its

a minor one for the company.
"We bought a small mix plant up
in Maryland a couple years ago to
make our donut mix," he said. "And
this is small - we didn't think it
was big enough to even talk about.
But it will be producing a lot of the
mix product for us, and for some
other customers."
In December 2007, Flowers
aquired assets of Key Mix Corp., a
bakery mix plant in Sykesville, MD.
General Mills, which also operates
a much larger cereal plant in southwest Cedar Rapids, acquired the
Iowa plant in 2001 when it purchased
Pillsbury from Diageo P.L.C. MBN
existing farina production units at its
Minneapolis mill to be able to mill
4,500 cwts per day of white wheat. The
expansion is expected to be completed
in early summer of 2009.
According to the Grain & Milling
Annual 2009 published by Sosland
Publishing Co., ADM had U.S. wheat
flour capacity of 279,400 cwts (a total
that will grow to 286,900 cwts with the
expansions) at its 23 U.S. wheat flour
mills, making it the largest wheat
flour milling company, ranking just
ahead of Horizon Milling L.L.C. (a
CHS, Inc. joint venture) with 275,000
cwts, and ConAgra Foods, Inc. with
251,100 cwts. MBN

Viterra and ABB Grain to combine operations
CALGARY, ALTA. - Viterra Inc. has
reached agreement to acquire all the
issued and outstanding shares in Adelaide, Australia-based ABB Grain Ltd.
for a combination of cash and shares
valued at approximately C$1.4 billion
($1.2 billion).

The transaction values ABB shares at
A$9.11 to A$9.41, a premium of up to 9.4%
from ABB's last traded price. The transaction includes a special cash dividend of
A$0.41 per share to be paid by ABB.
The transaction has been unanimously
recommended by the ABB board of direc-

Nonni's Food Co. to build bakery in North Carolina
RALEIGH, N.C. - Nonni's Food Co., a marketer, manufacturer and distributor of premium branded biscotti, bagel chips, pita chips, flatbreads, panetini, melba
toast and co-pack bread crumbs under the Nonni's,
New York Style, Old London and Devonsheer brand
names, announced plans to build a commercial bakery in Yadkinville, N.C. Yadkinville is approximately
25 miles west of Winston-Salem, N.C.
As part of the $27 million investment, Nonni's will
add more than 170 jobs over the next three years. The
company will receive a $300,000 grant from the One
North Carolina Fund to be used toward the facility.
Headquartered in Westchester, Ill., Nonni's
is owned by Vivartia S.A., an international food
company based in Greece with operations in 29
countries. MBN

bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

tors and unanimously approved by the
board of directors of Viterra.
"Over a considerable period of time
our respective companies have developed a solid understanding of each others operations, management philosophies and strategic goals," said Mayo
Schmidt, president and chief executive
officer of Viterra. "This relationship has
culminated into a transformational combination that will drive significant value
for all shareholders, destination customers and growers. We are creating a leading global food ingredients supplier at a
time when markets are expanding. With
assets in the key exporting geographies
of Australia and Canada, the new company will have enhanced access to high
growth markets and margin opportunities. We will be financially stronger and
better able to access capital and manage
risks required to succeed in the global
marketplace."
The Australian, New Zealand and
South East Asian operations of the new
company will be based in Adelaide,
which will be the worldwide headquarters of the company's malt business. MBN
Milling & Baking News

June 2, 2009 / 9

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Milling & Baking News - June 2, 2009

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