ST. PAUL, Minn., Jan. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CHS Inc. (NASDAQ: CHSCP, CHSCO, CHSCN, CHSCM), an energy, grains, and foods company and the nation's leading farmer-owned cooperative, announced today it has purchased a 25 percent share of West Central, a full-service wholesale distributor headquartered in Willmar, Minn.
"Investing in West Central is one more way CHS is demonstrating its commitment to help its farmer-owners grow, by providing greater access to products and services across the supply chain," said Rick Dusek, CHS Agronomy vice president. "CHS is the nation's third largest agronomic retailer, and the largest domestic wholesale fertilizer distributor; by investing in West Central, we're gaining access and market share within the crop protection products business segment," said Dusek.
CHS Country Operations Service Centers currently offer producers high-quality crop protection products along with crop nutrients, seed, seed treatments and agronomic services, all backed by knowledgeable local agronomists and the CHS YieldPoint precision ag program. Dusek says by partnering with West Central, CHS will broaden both the scope and availability of those crop inputs, and will look to further expand its crop protection platform.
West Central President Dale Engan said the agreement with CHS is a good fit for the company, which has a 40-year history of helping farm retailers grow their businesses. He says West Central will continue to focus on its retail customer base providing a full range of crop protection products and agronomic services. "This opportunity with CHS supports our strategic plans, which include expanding our distribution and service network to support customers, launching new West Central branded products, and investing in our people," said Engan.
The agreement will provide CHS Country Operations Service Centers with both private-label products marketed under the trusted CHS brand along with West Central's current branded products.
CHS Inc. (www.chsinc.com) is a leading global agribusiness owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives across the United States. Diversified in energy, grains and foods, CHS is committed to helping its customers, farmer-owners and other stakeholders grow their businesses through its domestic and global operations. CHS, a Fortune 100 company, supplies energy, crop nutrients, grain marketing services, animal feed, food and food ingredients, along with business solutions including insurance, financial and risk management services. The company operates petroleum refineries/pipelines and manufactures, markets and distributes Cenex® brand refined fuels, lubricants, propane and renewable energy products.
Established in 1974, West Central (www.westcentralinc.com) is a wholesale distributor of crop protection products, crop nutrient products, micronutrients, seed treatments and inoculants. West Central anticipates and meets the needs of each business with a consultative approach, and its highly trained professionals explore, understand and commit to fully supporting each retailer's goals.
This document contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the potential results discussed in the forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligations to publicly revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances. For a discussion of additional factors that may materially affect management's estimates and predictions, please view the CHS Inc. annual report filed on Form 10-K for the year ended Aug. 31, 2014, which can be found on the Securities and Exchange Commission web site (www.sec.gov) or on the CHS web site www.chsinc.com.
SOURCE CHS Inc.
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