Canadian Wheat Board acquires Prairie West Terminal, majority stake in Great Sandhills Railway

Great Sandhills Terminal Ltd. (GST) Board of Directors and Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) have entered into an agreement where CWB will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of GST for cash consideration of CA$581.98 (US$542.80) per share.

In making this recommendation, the board of directors considered a number of benefits of the transaction, including CWB’s access to export markets and its significant grain marketing experience, which will provide a strong, local competitive option for GST farm customers.

The agreement with Great Sandhills Terminal complements CWB’s recent acquisition of Prairie West Terminal by expanding CWB’s country assets in western Saskatchewan to include GST’s high-throughput grain handling facility near Leader, SK and a majority stake in Great Sandhills Railway, a shortline railway operating 197 kilometers (122 miles) of track between Swift Current and Burstall, SK.

“Today’s agreement brings together the strong reputations of both companies under one roof,” said Wayne Hittel, chairman of Great Sandhills Terminal. “CWB’s prized international brand and GST’s service excellence are just two of the reasons this acquisition is a win-win for all stakeholders, CWB, GST shareholders, our local community and all of our farmer-customers that deliver grain to GST now and in the future.”

The deal is expected to close before September 1, 2014.