Maple Leaf Sells Off Biodiesel, Rendering Segments to Texas Firm
By Amanda Briodhagen, Farms.com
Maple Leaf Foods has agreed to sell its rendering and biodiesel business to a Texas firm – Darling International Inc. for $645 million.
The deal includes the sale of the company’s Rothsay business of six rendering plants located in Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, and its biodiesel facility in Quebec. Maple Leaf president and CEO calls the sale a strategic move so that the company may focus solely on consumer packaged food products.
“The sale will support future investments in our consumer facing businesses and allow Darling to build on Rothsay’s strong capabilities and deep customer relationships,” McCain said in a company statement.
Rothsay’s 550 employees will be taken over by Darling. The Texas based firm is the largest provider of rendering, bakery residuals and recycling solutions in the United States. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2013.