Acquisition expands Linamar’s ag portfolio

Linamar Corp. announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding equity of the Salford group of companies, a global supplier of crop nutrition application and tillage products.

Linamar is expanding its portfolio of agricultural application and tillage products with its application of Salford Group. (Photo: Salford Group)

Under the terms of the agreement, Linamar will pay approximately $260 million Canadian ($194.38 million U.S.) to Salford Group’s shareholders, subject to ordinary transaction adjustments. The purchase is expected to close during the second quarter of 2022, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including the receipt of required regulatory approval.

The acquisition of the Salford Group will expand Linamar’s agriculture’s portfolio, which is currently anchored by MacDon Industries Limited. Following the acquisition, Salford Group will continue to leverage its established manufacturing and distribution network to sell products under the Salford brand.

“This is an exciting and important acquisition for Linamar,” said Linda Hasenfratz, Linamar’s executive chair and CEO. “Salford has a strong portfolio of differentiated products in the crop nutrition application and tillage segments. These are areas we had identified in our agriculture growth strategy as highly attractive segments for future product diversification.”

“Agriculture and food is a key element of our Linamar 2100 strategic roadmap, which was first outlined following our acquisition of MacDon in 2018”, said Jim Jarrell, Linamar’s president and COO. “Through MacDon, we already have an established market-leading position in the harvesting segment. Tillage and crop nutrition are a natural complement to that product portfolio which will allow us to accelerate sales of all products. Combining Linamar’s scaled resources and global reach with Salford’s leading reputation will drive value creation for all stakeholders.”

Salford Group, founded in 1978 is headquartered in Salford, Ontario, Canada, with three manufacturing locations in Canada and two manufacturing locations in the United States. The Salford product lineup includes both pneumatic and spinner type fertilizer spreaders, cover crop seeders, and a range of tillage equipment.

“We are very excited to join the Linamar family,” said Geof Gray, president of Salford Group. “Linamar and MacDon both have excellent reputations in the industry and we believe the combination of our resources, our respective brand strengths and distribution networks will enable Salford to compete and innovate at a higher level with greater market coverage, delivering even more value to dealers and farmers.”