WINNIPEG, MAN. — Richardson Oilseed (US) Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of Richardson International Ltd., has reached an agreement to acquire St. Louis-based Italgrani USA Inc., the largest durum miller in North America. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Under terms of the agreement, Richardson will acquire a milling facility in St. Louis that specializes in semolina and durum flour products, storage and crop inputs facilities situated at Tolley, Powers Lake, and Benedict in North Dakota, and a commodity trading office in Minneapolis.

“This acquisition is fully aligned with our long-term strategic goals of diversification, geographic expansion, and an increased presence in food processing — having gone from canola to oats and now to durum processing,” said Curt Vossen, president and chief executive officer of Richardson International. “The significant scale of processing capability of the Italgrani plant, combined with origination opportunities and crop inputs retail facilities, all included in this transaction, will further enhance the services we will be able to offer to our producer customers, both in Canada and the US.”

James Meyer, president of Italgrani USA, said the company looks forward to expanding its business footprint following its acquisition by Richardson.

“Our two companies are well aligned in that we are both focused on customer service, innovative solutions, and being good stewards of resources,” he said.

Ruggero Benedini, CEO of Progretto Grano, a majority shareholder of Italgrani USA, added, “We would like to congratulate Richardson on this successful transaction. We are confident that Richardson will understand and nurture the unique culture and business qualities that made Italgrani so successful over the years and will contribute to the further growth of the business. We also want to especially thank James Meyer, Lisa Rucker (treasurer, Italgrani USA), the rest of the management team, and the employees of Italgrani USA for the excellent results achieved over the last fifteen years. We appreciate their support throughout the process, as well as the advisory team involved in getting the deal smoothly across the finish line.”

Italian-family-founded and -owned, Italgrani began its US operations, Italgrani USA, in 1979 with a small office in Minneapolis. Shortly thereafter, the company purchased a grain elevator in St. Louis and, in 1987, built a durum wheat mill alongside it. The company added grain trading and brokerage services in 1988, acquiring Mayco Export, Inc. Shortly thereafter, in 1989, Italgrani began purchasing grain elevator operations in North Dakota, a move the company said allowed it to seamlessly integrate its grain sourcing and milling operations with its local farmer customers. Today, Italgrani operates four grain storage facilities with total licensed grain storage capacity of 6,880,000 bus, according to the 2021 Grain & Milling Annual published by Sosland Publishing Co. The company’s St. Louis durum mill has durum capacity of 28,000 cwts and overall storage capacity of 4 million bus, according to the Grain & Milling Annual.

According to the Grain & Milling Annual, Richardson has 71 grain storage facilities with a total licensed storage capacity of 95.7 million tonnes.