Carr's Acquires Western Feed Supplements

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Carr's (CRM.L), the fully-listed agriculture, food and engineering group, announces that its wholly owned USA subsidiary, AFS Inc, has acquired the business and assets of Western Feed Supplements ("WFS"), a low moisture feed block manufacturer  located in Silver Springs, Nevada, from California's largest feed manufacturer, Western Milling, for a cash consideration of £0.6 million.  Following the acquisition, Carr's plans to invest in a modernisation programme at Silver Springs to create another state-of-the-art production facility for low moisture tubs, supplying the West Coast beef and dairy markets of the USA.
 
The acquisition is expected to have a broadly neutral earnings impact during the current financial year, becoming earnings positive following the completion of the modernisation programme.
 
Following AminoMax's® success in the USA, Carr's is currently commissioning a new AminoMax plant at Lancaster, Lancashire, UK. The new plant will commence production in July 2013. AminoMax® is the unique patented bypass protein feed product, which improves the performance of dairy cattle. AminoMax has been successfully manufactured in the USA at the Group's plant at Watertown, New York State. The Group is in the process of expanding production at Watertown to capitalise on the growing demand for the product. The Lancaster plant has been built utilising the proven manufacturing technologies and processes used at Watertown.
 
Tim Davies, Chief Executive of Carr's, commented:
 
"The acquisition of Western Feed Supplements is a natural strategic step for Carr's which follows our success in the USA feedblock market.  WFS extends our geographic coverage in the USA in the low moisture tubs market and we expect to grow our market share in the feedblock business. 
 
Carr's has a growing international reputation for its research-based approach to developing innovative products that improve the productivity and profitability of its agricultural customers.  The decision to invest in the AminoMax® plant at Lancaster is part of Carr's strategy for continued organic growth."