Company type | Private Company |
---|---|
Industry | Agriculture |
Founded | 2001 |
Headquarters | Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada |
Number of locations | 47 facilities (2016) |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Murad Al-Katib (President and CEO) Hüseyin Arslan (Executive Chairman) |
Revenue | CA$1.9 billion (2016) [1] |
CA$83 million (2016) [1] | |
CA$21 million (2016) [1] | |
Total assets | CA$1.3 billion (2016) [1] |
Total equity | CA$0.3 billion (2016) [1] |
Number of employees | 1,900 (2016) [2] |
AGT Food and Ingredients is a Canadian processor of pulses and other food ingredients. It is one of the largest pulse-processing companies in the world.[3]
AGT was founded in 2001 as SaskCan Pulse Trading by Murad Al-Katib, the present CEO.[3] He received funding from the Arslan family of Turkey, owners of the Arbel group, a Turkish pulse-processing company.[3]
In 2007, the Agtech Income Fund acquired SaskCan, and then renamed itself Alliance Grain Traders.[4] As a result of this deal, Alliance Grain Traders was listed on Toronto Venture Exchange.[4]
In 2009, Alliance Grain Traders converted from an income fund to a normal corporation. Also in 2009, Alliance Grain Traders bought the Arbel group for $104 million, including its pasta business.[4][5]
In 2011, the company took over South Africa based Advance Seed.[6] Since 2012, it has shifted into the packaged foods business.[7] In particular, it has expanded production at its facility in Minot, North Dakota.[8]
In 2014, the company was renamed AGT Food and Ingredients.[3] In 2015, AGT bought Big Sky Rail, a Saskatchewan short line railway, for $57.5 million.[9] In 2018, it was part of the consortium that purchased the Hudson Bay Railway.[10]
On February 5, 2019, the company announced shareholder approval for a privatization deal led by its President and Chief Executive Officer, Murad Al-Katib, in consortium with Fairfax Financial and Point North Capital.[11] On April 17, 2019, the transaction to take the company private was closed.[12]
AGT buys, processes, and distributes pulses, including lentils, peas, and beans, as well as grains and other agricultural commodities.[7] It also manufactures and distributes food ingredients and packaged foods. In 2016, pulses were responsible for 58% of sales, milled grains for 7%, and rices and other products for 35%.[2] As of 2016, 58% of revenue was from pulse and grain processing, 28% was from distribution, and the other 14% was from food ingredients and packaged foods.[2] It has facilities in Canada, the United States, Turkey, China, South Africa, and Australia. In 2016, 6% of sales were in Canada, 12% were in the rest of the Americas, 28% were in Asia-Pacific, and the other 54% were in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.[2]