A Winnipeg firm devoted to building grain handling and storage equipment plans to expand into commercial-scale grain aeration by buying a Nebraska manufacturer.
Ag Growth International last week announced it will buy Airlanco, based at Falls City, Neb., for US$11 million, financed from its line of credit for such purchases.
Airlanco, whose home town is about 150 km south of Omaha, employs 65 people at an 80,000-square foot plant and “has traditionally served customers headquartered or located in North America.”
Ag Growth CEO Gary Anderson described Airlanco as “a key player in the aeration fan market in the U.S. and… a reputable solution provider for the high-capacity fan market.”
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Among Airlanco’s products is AirAuger, an after-market combination of an aeration and unloading system for large-scale storage.
The company also makes dust collection and filtration systems for a “broad range of customers, with a strong focus in commercial grain handling and several processing sectors.”
Airlanco is expected to add “key product categories” Ag Growth’s catalogue, Anderson said, strengthening the parent firm’s “one-stop shop” concept.
Among Ag Growth’s dozen manufacturing units are Batco, which makes crop conveyors at Swift Current, Sask.; auger makers Westfield and Wheatheart, based at Rosenort, Man.; Lethbridge grain bin maker Twister; and Alberta grain drying equipment maker Edwards Group.
“Wait and see”
In terms of company-wide sales, this crop year “has continued to present challenges,” Anderson said in last week’s release, noting seeding delays, a hot and dry summer and the “highly variable” harvest conditions that followed.
“These factors in combination appear to have created a ‘wait and see’ attitude in many farmers’ purchasing behaviour” and dragged on farmers’ purchases of grain handling and storage equipment in the company’s third quarter, he said.
Despite the market “softness” at the moment, he said, the company’s outlook “remains positive and by continuing to lever our brand strength and product offering we believe we are poised for growth in 2012 and beyond.”
