Green light for acquisition
The merger of two of the country’s largest animal nutrition companies won’t lessen competition, the Commerce Commission has ruled.
SealesWinslow has bought the existing Inghams feedmill and grain storage complex on Kelvin St, Wanganui and will redevelop the site and install modern milling equipment in time for the 2013/14 dairy season.
Newly appointed chief executive Graeme Smith says the development will allow SealesWinslow to better serve its rapidly expanding customer base of dairy, sheep and beef farmers.
"It is certainly pleasing to invest in animal nutrition in the heart of three high growth dairying regions covering Taranaki, Wanganui and Manawatu," says Smith.
SealesWinslow was formed last year when Ballance Agri-Nutrients bought a 51% shareholding in both Seales Ltd in Morrinsville and Winslow Feeds and Nutrition in Ashburton.
Ballance Agri-Nutrients chief executive Larry Bilodeau says the step supports Ballance's aim to create a nationwide business focused on providing more options for shareholders to get the best performance out of their farming businesses.
"We are offering a whole farm nutrient management approach from pasture through to supplements which will improve productivity and animal fertility, health and welfare while reducing agriculture's environmental footprint," says Bilodeau.
Smith says improving animal nutrition is vital to driving productivity for pastoral farming in New Zealand.
"Our focus is on helping our customers to make more money through on-farm feed efficiency.
"For farmers looking to lift production sustainably animal nutrition supplements provide a golden opportunity to achieve this by enhancing the performance of New Zealand's pastoral farming systems. In most cases these are already being supported through targeted plant nutrient applications, both of which go hand in hand to obtain peak production and profitability."
Endeavouring to support New Zealand farming in every way possible, SealesWinslow's key ingredients are primarily sourced from local suppliers.
"This means the development of the Wanganui complex will be great news for the region's arable sector," says Smith. "We'll be buying thousands of tonnes of grain from farmers in the area, which in terms means more money is injected into the local economy."
Former managing director of SealesWinslow Ross Hyland has been appointed project manager of the state-of-the-art modernisation of the feedmill which will be in production at the start of the new dairy season in June 2013.
The modernised Wanganui production facility will complement the company's manufacturing sites in Morrinsville in the Waikato and Ashburton in the Canterbury region. SealesWinslow also has an additional distribution site at Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty.
Almost one year on since the official formation of SealesWinslow on June 1,2011, a new chief executive has been appointed, and growth plans have been consolidated with a 25% increase in sales force numbers to support the provision of extra service and advice with their product offering. In addition the company has been building on the long-standing partnerships its parent company Ballance has with rural merchants throughout the country to build a truly national, 100% New Zealand owned animal nutrition business.
