It may be changing hands, but it will still be an asset to Humboldt.
Big Sky Farms was officially acquired by Olymel L.P. on January 20 for $65.25 million.
"We took over the operations (on January 20) and we are going to continue to operate under the name of Big Sky Farms," said Richard Vigneault, spokesperson of the company. "With the difficult situation the producer faced last year, we decided to make a move and make an offer."
"The Olymel executive welcomes Big Sky Farms employees into the Olymel family and wishes to assure them that it will make every effort to put the company back on a profitable footing," Olymel president and CEO Rejean Nadeau stated in a press release.
Big Sky Farms, the second largest hog producer in Canada, was placed in receivership in September 2012 when it was unable to meet obligations after significant losses because of high grain prices and low hog prices.
Olymel is a leader in slaughtering, processing and distributing pork and poultry in Canada. The acquisition of Big Sky will help strengthen the capacity of their processing and value-added product and manufacturing plants.
"The purpose of the acquisition is really a strategic move to secure our supplies in pork from one of the largest plants in Canada," said Vigneault. "Big Sky was already our supplier. They supplied an average of 20 per cent (of our pork to the Olymel slaughterhouse in Red Deer)."
Although Olymel's headquarters are in Quebec, they also have facilities in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.
"This is our first step into hog production itself," said Vigneault. "We slaughter, we butcher, we process pork products under national brands as well as for exportation. We export to more than 60 countries."
Although they are not producers, Vigneault is confident they will succeed.
"We are not in production but our owner has some expertise in production," said Vigneault.
Olymel was conducting meetings with Big Sky Farms' 400 employees and will maintain business relations with its customers and suppliers.
