Cargill to buy out animal-feed business

Cargill Inc. is prepared to buy Southern States Cooperative Inc.’s animal-feed business, which would expand the Minnesota food giant’s footprint throughout the eastern half of the U.S.

The transaction is estimated to close within 90 days. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Southern States Cooperative announced late Thursday that Cargill would acquire seven feed mills and a portfolio of products, brands and customer and supplier relationships, once the deal was final. The retail, farm supply, energy and agronomy segments of the Richmond, Va.-based company are not part of this transaction.

This acquisition will strengthen Cargill’s distribution and market capabilities in the mid-Atlantic, northeast and southeast regions of the U.S., according to a company statement.

“Customers are at the heart of everything we do, and this agreement will allow us to better meet their needs in this key geography,” said Adriana Marcon, vice president and group director of Cargill Animal Nutrition, in a release.

This comes after a similar agreement between Southern States and Land O’Lakes fell through. They reached an agreement in November, but Land O’Lakes announced in March it would build an animal feed facility in Roanoke, Va., instead.

While Southern States won’t be making feed anymore, the company said it is still committed to providing feed to co-op members and customers. Southern States is one of the nation’s largest agriculture cooperatives and owned by more than 200,000 farmer-members. There are 1,200 retail outlets in 23 states.