Citing “renewed interest,” Maple Leaf Foods has formally put its Burlington, Ont. pork packing plant back up for sale.
The Toronto food firm, which had officially postponed the sale process last spring, citing “current economic conditions and credit markets,” said Tuesday it is “reinvigorating the sale process following renewed interest, including the potential of completing a sale to a producer group.”
Economic conditions and credit markets have also improved, the company said in a release, noting it has retained financial advisors to “support the sale process.” It did not name the potentially interested producer group.
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Maple Leaf on Tuesday described its 365,000-square foot pork plant at Burlington, northeast of Hamilton, as “one of the largest and most efficient pork processing facilities in Canada. Together with its management and sales teams it is a profitable business with a highly skilled workforce.”
But the plant didn’t fit in Maple Leaf’s major reorganization of its meat processing (or “protein”) operations, a process it launched in 2006.
“Over time we will identify the best option to realize its value and full potential,” the company said of the Burlington plant at that time.
Maple Leaf launched the formal process to put the plant up for sale in the summer of 2008, expecting to complete a deal by the end of that year. When it postponed the sale process in April 2009, it cited “no immediate urgency” to sell the facility.
Company CFO Michael Vels said last spring that Maple Leaf wanted “to ensure we negotiate an offer that recognizes the appropriate value for the business and meets the expectations of our shareholders.”
The protein reorganization saw Maple Leaf shut or sell several other plants across Canada, sell other related businesses and generally shift the company’s focus toward prepared meats, meals and bakery goods.
Maple Leaf’s goal in the process was to meet all requirements for fresh pork through one slaughter and processing plant at Brandon, Man., supported by that plant’s expansion to a double shift.
“The sale of the Burlington business will complete the last phase of Maple Leaf’s protein transformation journey and supports our commitment to refocus our growth in the value-added meat, meals and bakery business,” Vels said in Tuesday’s release.
