MONTREAL — La Coop fédérée, the majority shareholder of Olymel LP, announced the acquisition of F. Ménard on July 9. The agreement includes F. Ménard’s pork slaughtering, cutting and deboning plant located in Ange-Gardien, Quebec, and the Sollio Agriculture’s animal feed operations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Montérégie, Quebec-based F. Ménard was family-owned and operated for nearly 60 years. The annual production for the company was over 1.1 million hogs reared in over 300 farms which represents 15 percent of the province’s production.

“After long strategic reflection, the decision to sell the company proved to be the best solution to ensure a promising future for F. Ménard,” said Luc Ménard, the company’s executive director. “We have come to the decision we are announcing to you today with the preservation and development of what we have built over the past six decades and the interest and future of our employees in mind. A Canadian buyer such as La Coop fédérée and its Olymel and Sollio Agriculture divisions was an obvious choice for the company's future.”

The Ange-Gardien slaughtering and cutting plant’s slaughter capacity is 25,000 hogs on one shift. Another facility in Henryville, Canada, focuses on bacon and covers about 70,000 sq. ft. There is also another pork product facility in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. A large transportation fleet and two specialized butcher shops are also a part of the deal. Olymel LP will manage all the new assets.

“I see this agreement as a union of two passionate companies joining forces to better face increasingly fierce competition, especially in international markets,” said Réjean Nadeau, president and CEO of Olymel L.P. “F. Ménard is a company with a strong reputation. I would like to tell the members of the Ménard family, all the company's employees and its suppliers that Olymel will build on this legacy.”

F. Ménard also runs a poultry production operation, but the transaction did not include this business.