Crop input retail chain Blair’s Crop Solutions has a deal in place to sell one of its eastern Saskatchewan sites to meet its obligation to federal regulators.
The chain, a joint venture between Federated Co-operatives and the Blair’s Family of Companies, announced Monday it will sell its site at Lipton, Sask., about 80 km west of Melville, to ag retailer ProSoils Inc. for an undisclosed sum.
The sale to ProSoils also includes Blair’s anhydrous ammonia facilities at Lipton and nearby Balcarres.
The divestitures were a requirement for the approval of the federal Competition Bureau after Blair’s and FCL announced their joint venture earlier this year.
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ProSoils — an independent family-owned retailer dealing in fertilizer, crop inputs and seed at Rose Valley, about 75 km south of Tisdale — operates the Lipton site effective immediately and expects the sale to close by the end of January at the latest.
The Blair’s Crop Solutions joint venture is now down to six outlets providing retail crop inputs, feed products and agronomic services at Lanigan, Liberty, McLean, Nokomis, Rosthern and Watrous.
The Competition Bureau had said in July that without the conditions placed on the deal, the Blair’s/FCL joint venture would “likely substantially lessen competition” in retail inputs in the rural municipalities of Cupar, Kellross, Lipton and North Qu’Appelle.
The bureau noted Melville-based Prairie Co-op, a member of the FCL group of co-operatives, also operates ag retail centres in the area and other retailers in the area are not “vigorous competitors” to either Prairie Co-op or Blair’s.
The consent agreement between Blair’s and the Competition Bureau also means any local-level co-ops affiliated with FCL are ineligible to buy any of the affected Lipton assets anytime in the next 10 years, Blair’s said Monday.
The Lipton site had been an “integral part” of the Blair’s ag retail business for over 10 years, Blair’s CEO Kevin Blair said in a release Monday.
Blair’s managers have been operating the Lipton business at arm’s-length from the joint venture’s six other Saskatchewan sites until a buyer could be found.
“While the divestiture process has been challenging to our customers and staff at Lipton, we are pleased to work with ProSoils on transitioning the ag retail operations at Lipton to a progressive and independent family-owned business,” Blair said.
Staff at the Lipton site will be offered positions with ProSoils and will be reaching out to customers and suppliers with more information, the companies said.
Farmers “can be assured that all Blair’s customer commitments for products and services will transition seamlessly to ProSoils,” FCL said in a separate release Tuesday. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
