A pair of Saskatchewan co-operatives are expanding their reach in the crop input retail sector in that province’s northeast, with a deal to buy an independent dealership chain.
Lake Country Co-op and Prairie North Co-op announced Tuesday they have agreements in place to buy the assets of Melfort-based Paragon Ag Service from owners Sherman Boland and Don Nash for an undisclosed sum.
The terms of the deal, expected to close mid-month, call for Prairie North to take over Paragon’s sites just west of Melfort and at Brooksby, about 35 km northwest of Tisdale.
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Lake Country, meanwhile, will take up Paragon’s dealership at Kinistino, about 30 km west of Melfort, and an anhydrous ammonia site near Gronlid, about 20 km north of Brooksby.
Taking up the Paragon business “will strengthen these local co-ops by growing their footprint and adding dry fertilizer and anhydrous ammonia assets,” the co-operatives said in a release.
Paragon’s full-time staff will be offered “similar employment” with the local co-ops, which said they will continue to deliver fertilizer, seed and crop protection services to customers in the area.
“Finding a partner who shares our values and could keep our business local was important to us,” Boland said in the co-ops’ release Tuesday.
Paragon has operated in the Melfort area since 1999, selling a “full complement” of crop input products and services including crop protection products, canola seed, dry fertilizers and anhydrous.
The co-ops noted they’ve made “strategic investments” to build up their ag businesses over the past year.
Most recently, Lake Country announced plans in December to build a new agro centre at Shellbrook, about 45 km west of Prince Albert. A fertilizer facility is already under construction there, the co-op said, with the rest of the site work due to begin in the spring. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
