World Grain - March 2014 - 15

newsreview
Ardent creation
delayed by divestitures
OMAHA, NEBRASKA, U.S. - Announcing a second delay in the formation of Ardent
Mills, which was originally ConAgra Foods,
Inc., said the partners in the milling joint
venture were prepared to divest four of the
44 mills that were to be included in Ardent.
ConAgra offered an updated timetable
and discussed the divestitures in a Form 8-K
filing on Feb. 10 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ConAgra said it now
expects the transaction to be completed in
the second quarter of calendar 2014.
Ardent, which would combine the flour
milling operations of ConAgra Mills and
Horizon Milling (itself a joint venture of
Cargill and CHS), was first announced nearly a year ago, in March 2013. The merger
would be the largest in the history of the U.S.
flour milling industry.
ConAgra cited an ongoing regulatory review process as one factor among "various
reasons" for the revised timeline.
"The company, Cargill and CHS are prepared to divest four flour milling facilities:
Horizon Milling's Los Angeles, California,
U.S., mill; and ConAgra Mills' Oakland,
California, U.S.; Saginaw, Texas, U.S.; and
New Prague, Minnesota, U.S., mills," the filing said.
"The company expects these facilities
would be divested prior to, or simultaneous
with, the closing of the Ardent Mills transaction. Completion of the transaction remains
subject to reaching agreement with the
U.S. Department of Justice, financing and
other certain customary closing conditions.
ConAgra Mills and Horizon Milling will
continue to operate their respective mills
until the potential sales are completed, and
Ardent Mills is formed."
According to the 2014 Grain and Milling Annual published by Sosland Publishing
Co., the four mills to be divested have a combined daily flour milling capacity of 62,500
cwts and would reduce the aggregate Ardent
daily capacity to 513,600 cwts from 576,100
cwts - an 11% reduction. Ardent's remaining mills would include at least one within 75
miles of each of the divested facilities.
ConAgra recently updated the Oakland
mill in a $21 million modernization project.
The combined capacity of the four mills,
at 62,500 cwts, would, as a standalone business, represent the seventh largest flour milling company in the United States (the sixth
after Ardent was created, combining Horizon and ConAgra).

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World Grain - March 2014

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