SunOpta Completes Acquisition of Tradin Organic Agriculture of Amsterdam
The Company is a key supplier of a wide variety of organic products including frozen fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, coffee, cocoa, cereals, rice, soy, beans, pulses, seeds, nuts, oils, dairy products, seasonings, sweeteners and more.
03/04/08 SunOpta Inc. has completed the previously announced acquisition of the outstanding shares of The Organic Corporation B.V., operating as Tradin Organic Agriculture BV. The purchase price consisted of cash paid on closing, notes payable and certain deferred payments which will be paid in the future based on the performance of the Company.
Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Tradin is one of the world's leading providers of globally sourced organic food ingredients with annual revenues of approximately US$120 million. The Company is a key supplier of a wide variety of organic products including frozen fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, coffee, cocoa, cereals, rice, soy, beans, pulses, seeds, nuts, oils, dairy products, seasonings, sweeteners and more. The Company operates a number of wholly-owned and partially owned companies based in the Netherlands, China and Ethiopia. In addition, the Company maintains sales and sourcing operations in the United States, Germany, Austria, France and Thailand which source organic ingredients from extensive relationships in key growing areas around the globe. The existing management of Tradin will remain with the Company and will play an important role in the continued development of the organization's extensive capabilities.
Tradin's organic foods sourcing and processing expertise complements SunOpta's broad natural and organic foods platform, sourcing and processing from diverse geographies and serving a global customer base. The combination of these capabilities is expected to lead to further integrated sourcing and processing opportunities around the globe and will position SunOpta as one of the dominant suppliers to the rapidly growing organic foods industry. The transaction is expected to be earnings neutral in fiscal 2008, before the impact of operating synergies which are expected to transpire as the combined strengths of the operations are realized.
Wim Rabbie and Gerard Versteegh, the shareholders of Tradin, commented, "We are very pleased to have completed this transaction and we are very excited to be part of the SunOpta family. There are many opportunities for continued growth and development of organic ingredients around the world, and we look forward to doing this as part of SunOpta."
Steve Bromley, President and Chief Executive Officer of SunOpta, commented, "We are very excited to have the Tradin team join SunOpta. The strategic combination of SunOpta's global organic sourcing and processing operations with Tradin's extensive and complementary operations, positions SunOpta as a global leader in the provision of organic ingredients in the world, and is consistent with our strategy to become the leading global supplier of natural and organic food products."
