Kainai Forage Closes $15.0 Million Construction Credit Facilities with Farm Credit Canada and Operating Line of Credit with Bank of Montreal
STAND OFF, AB, Sept. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Kainai Forage, LP ("Kainai Forage" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the closing of a long-term construction finance facility with Farm Credit Canada and an operating line of credit with Bank of Montreal.
Proceeds from the credit facilities will expand the Company's storage and processing capacity, simultaneously enabling the continued growth of long-term arrangements with Alberta's forage producers and international end-users.
The Blood Tribe and Indigena Capital formed Kainai Forage in April 2019 with Indigena Capital making a growth equity investment to accelerate the development of the Blood Tribe's on-Reserve forage processing and export business. Since formation, Kainai Forage has more than doubled its production of export-grade Timothy hay and anticipates production of more than 50,000 tonnes during the 2020 growing season. This rapid growth is actively creating jobs on the Blood Tribe Reserve and throughout Southern Alberta.
Chief Roy Fox of the Blood Tribe commented, "The Kainai Blood Tribe have always existed on our lands. We were the first successful agriculturalists when the buffalo left, until the imposition of several barriers. Since the construction of the St. Mary's Dam in the 1950s, and the Blood Tribe Agriculture Project in the 1980s we have been active, working to restore our place in the agricultural value chain. The Blood Tribe has developed an enviable irrigation project with the infrastructure to support 25,000 acres and beyond.
Kainai Forage is central to the Blood Tribe's economic strategy for achieving financial sovereignty. We are pleased to be working with Farm Credit Canada and Bank of Montreal on building Kainai Forage into a 100,000 tonne per annum industry leader. For too long, Indigenous Nations have been unable to access debt on market terms for their on-Reserve projects. With this successful financing, Kainai Forage and the Blood Tribe are leading the advancement of Indigenous participation in Canada's agriculture industry."
About Kainai Forage, the Blood Tribe, and Indigena Capital
Established in 1997 as the Blood Tribe Forage Processing Plant, Kainai Forage grows, processes, and exports premium grade Timothy Hay and other forage products to markets including Japan, Korea, the Middle East, and China. Kainai Forage's dedicated, irrigated lands and attending water rights in Southern Alberta's agricultural hub provide a unique solution to customers' requirements for quality, consistency, and origin certainty. For more information please visit: www.kainaiforage.com.
The Blood Tribe / Kainai First Nation is a member of the Blackfoot Confederacy and a Treaty 7 Nation. Located approximately 200 kilometers south of Calgary, Alberta, the Blood Tribe has the largest Reserve in Canada, encompassing nearly 560 square miles, with over 12,000 members. The Blood Tribe's focus on business enterprises is anchored by decades of oil and gas development on their lands and in their operation of the largest irrigation project in Canada.
Indigena Capital partners with Indigenous Nations to assess their unique rights and resources, investing early stage capital to assist them in taking an active role in development. Indigena Capital has specialized in partnering exclusively with Tribal Nations in the United States and First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in Canada for over three decades. Through disciplined capital allocation, the return expectations of investors can be met while creating the foundation for self-sustaining economies for Nations. Kainai Forage is Indigena's first investment through IAC, its agriculture investment platform dedicated to financing and enabling the active participation by Indigenous Nations in their agricultural lands and resources. For more information please visit: www.indigenacapital.com.
SOURCE Indigena Capital
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