April 30, 2008
On April 30, 2008 Wilbur-Ellis Company completed its purchase of the marketing and distribution business of ProFood USA, Inc. and the operating units Poseidon Proteins and Agri Trading.
“Jerry Klug has grown his business and successfully entered markets that are very attractive to us” said Wilbur-Ellis President & CEO John P. Thacher in announcing the acquisition. “In addition Jerry and his team has developed strong supplier and customer relationships that are consistent with the high service business model that is a hallmark of our Feed Division”.
In the joint announcement, Jerry Klug, President of ProFood USA echoed the value to his organization in joining Wilbur-Ellis. Klug confirmed “that the synergy of the two organizations will provide greater resources as well as joint marketing opportunities that will definitely enable us to provide the best service to our customers. The commodity marketplace is changing rapidly and we need to align ourselves with a company that has the necessary resources, shares similar values and has a high level of integrity in the agricultural service business”.
Operations will continue to be headquartered in the Brush Prairie, Washington ProFoods USA office. Other locations in Gooding and Paul, Idaho as well as Portland, Oregon are included in the transaction.
The newly acquired businesses will report to Vice President Ronald G. Salter who heads up the Feed Division headquartered in Portland, Oregon.
Founded in 1921, Wilbur-Ellis is a privately held business headquartered in San Francisco. The Company specializes in the marketing, distribution and formulation of crop protection products, fertilizers and seed, the importing and exporting of specialty chemicals, and the marketing and distribution of certain animal feed throughout the U.S., Canada and the Pacific Rim. The combined businesses recorded sales exceeding $2.0 billion in 2007.