AGI Announces Acquisition Of Brazilian Manufacturer Entringer S.A.

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA--(Marketwired - March 9, 2016) - Ag Growth International Inc. (TSX:AFN) ("AGI" or the "Company") is very pleased to announce the acquisition of Entringer S.A. ("Entringer"), a Brazilian based manufacturer of grain bins, bucket elevators, dryers and cleaners. Founded in 1988 and strategically located in Brazil's Sao Paulo province, Entringer provides AGI with a measured entry into the rapidly expanding agricultural sector in Brazil. 

Entringer sales in 2015 were R$43 million and normalized EBITDA over the previous six years has averaged approximately R$5.6m, with peak normalized EBITDA of R$9.9m in 2013 and negative EBITDA of approximately R$1.3 million in 2015. Terms of the transaction included payment of R$30 million upon closing which represents a multiple of 5.4x against the previous six year average EBITDA. The agreement includes a R$15 million earn-out provision based on Entringer meeting certain EBITDA thresholds.

"We are very pleased to announce the acquisition of Entringer," said Tim Close, President and CEO of AGI. "Despite the economic and political turmoil in Brazil the agriculture sector has remained a positive point for the country. The issues facing the country have had a substantial impact on the currency, creating, what we believe to be, an opportunistic time to enter the market and establish a platform for growth."

"The Brazilian agriculture market continues to gain momentum as the soy and corn crops benefit from double cropping and as new acres are converted to grain, new seed technology is deployed and producers make better use of fertilizer to impact crop yields. Brazil has a substantial deficit in the infrastructure and equipment required to properly store, condition, and handle the growing grain crop. The combination of the growing crop and the lack of infrastructure create an excellent market for AGI. Historically, taxes and tariffs that exist in Brazil have restricted our ability to compete in this exciting market and with today's announcement we now have manufacturing capabilities within Brazil. This expanding footprint is a continuation of our global growth strategy and forms a key element of our efforts to mitigate the risks inherent from the variability of regional events in agriculture."

"The acquisition of Entringer marks the beginning of what we have termed our "Greenfield Plus" strategy to grow our business in Brazil. With Entringer, we are acquiring a Brazilian focused product line including grain dryers and grain cleaners which are new to AGI, an excellent team with an established track record of outstanding customer service, installation capabilities, a distribution network, customer relationships, an excellent operations team, a robust pipeline, and well situated land for a greenfield facility."

"We have spent more than three years developing and pursuing a measured and responsible strategy to enter the Brazilian market. The combination of a small acquisition which provides the products and people required to grow our local business along with the construction of a new, state of the art facility provides a truly unique strategic position in the Brazil marketplace. While the impact on 2016 EBITDA will be marginal, we will spend approximately $25 million USD to establish a new facility and we expect this facility to contribute starting in 2017."

"We would like to welcome the entire team at Entringer to the AGI family and we look forward to working together to build Entringer and AGI Brazil."


Conference Call Details

Management will host a conference call at 9:00 am (ET) on Thursday, March 10, 2016 to review the Company's results for the three and twelve month periods ended December 31, 2015. To participate in the conference call, please dial 1-866-303-8430 or for local access dial 416-641-6103. An audio replay of the call will be available for seven days. To access the audio replay, please dial 1-800-408-3053 or for local access dial 905-694-9451. Please quote passcode 8198193.

AGI Company Profile

AGI is a leading provider of equipment solutions for agriculture bulk commodities including seed, fertilizer, grain, and feed systems with a growing platform in providing equipment and solutions for food processing facilities. AGI has manufacturing facilities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, South Africa, France and Italy, and distributes its product globally.

Further information can be found in the disclosure documents filed by AGI with the securities regulatory authorities, available at www.sedar.com and on AGI's website www.aggrowth.com.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws that reflects our expectations regarding the future growth, results of operations, performance, business prospects, and opportunities of the Company. Forward-looking information may contain such words as “anticipate”, “believe”, “continue”, “could”, “expect”, “intend”, “plan”, “will” or similar expressions suggesting future conditions or events. In particular, this press release includes forward-looking statements relating to the proposed timing of completion of the Offering and the anticipated use of the net proceeds of the Offering. Such forward-looking information is based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to, the failure or delay in satisfying any of the conditions to the completion of the Offering. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect AGI's operations, financial results or dividend payments are described under “Risks and Uncertainties” and "Forward-Looking Information" in our most recently filed Management's Discussion and Analysis and Annual Information Form. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company’s forward-looking information. We cannot assure readers that actual results will be consistent with this forward-looking information and we undertake no obligation to update such information except as expressly required by law.