Bulk liquid giants in US merge
Westway Group becomes an independent global provider of bulk liquid storage services and liquid animal feed supplements, with leading positions in key markets.
Shermen WSC Acquisition Corp. has entered into an agreement to merge with
ED&F Man’s bulk liquid storage and liquid animal feed supplement businesses
(Westway Group). ED&F Man is a leading global supplier of a broad range of
commodity products, including sugar, molasses, animal feed, tropical oils,
biofuels and coffee to multinational and industrial consumers. Following
completion of the transaction, the Company would have an enterprise value of
$294.1 million. Immediately following completion of the transaction, Shermen
will be renamed Westway Group, Inc. and will be headquartered in New Orleans,
Louisiana.
Growth in bulk liquid storage
This transaction
positions Westway to continue its significant growth in bulk liquid storage
services and to further expand its leadership position in the liquid animal feed
supplement industry. Furthermore, the knowledge and capital resources provided
by Shermen will allow Westway to explore expansion into complementary
businesses.
Liquid animal feed supplements
ED&F Man’s
liquid animal feed supplement business, currently operating under the name
Westway Feed Products, is the largest liquid animal feed supplement manufacturer
in North America. The business produces approximately 1.7 million tons of liquid
animal feed supplements annually, which are sold directly to ranchers or feed
manufacturers supplying the beef, dairy, horse, sheep and other livestock
industries.
The business also supplies liquid animal feed supplements in
Australia via its 50% interest in the Champion Liquid Feed Company, a
joint-venture with Ridley Agri-Products formed in 2001. Westway’s proprietary
manufacturing processes combine molasses and other base liquids with various
nutrients to create a wide variety of liquid animal feed supplement products.
Its blending processes can be tailored to meet specific customer needs or to
adjust to changing market conditions for raw materials.
Bulk liquid
storage business
ED&F Man’s bulk liquid storage business, currently
operating under the name Westway Terminals, is a large provider of storage
services to manufacturers and consumers of agricultural and industrial liquids.
The business’ infrastructure includes a network of 24 terminal facilities,
offering total storage capacity of 284.0 million gallons (1.075 million litres),
located at key port and terminal locations throughout the US, Western Europe and
Asia.
Westway has utilized acquisitions, new site openings and existing
facility expansions to significantly enhance its storage capacity and service
offering. Westway currently has several additional customer-driven growth
initiatives in development that are expected to increase storage capacity to
approximately 370.0 million gallons (1.4 billion litres)by 2011 (excluding the
impact of potential acquisitions).
