Farmlands Is Seeking To Acquire SealesWinslow To Create A National Animal Nutrition Solution For Kiwi Farmers

Farmlands has made an offer to purchase SealesWinslow, the animal nutrition business currently owned by Ballance Agri-Nutrients (Ballance). If approved by the Commerce Commission, the deal will form an integrated animal feed business unit with three well-known and complementary brands – SealesWinslow, NRM and McMillan.

Earlier this year, Ballance and Farmlands agreed to work together to assess the advantages of Farmlands purchasing SealesWinslow. The outcome was that bringing together the feed assets and expertise of these two farmer-owned New Zealand co-operatives would secure long-term benefits for shareholders, customers and stakeholders.

“SealesWinslow is a recognised leader in animal nutrition, built on a similar ethos to Farmlands. It has a long history, including mergers and growth, aimed at providing the best products and best value to Kiwi farmers,” said Farmlands CEO, Tanya Houghton.

“We’re excited about the prospect of buying SealesWinslow and supporting it to be an important part of our overall nutrition business.”

This potential purchase will provide the SealesWinslow team with a strong future, ensuring the business will be even more successful than it is today. This agreement broadens Farmlands' manufacturing footprint into the North Island and complements their existing South Island infrastructure, resulting in a nationwide animal nutrition solution.

Tanya believes it’s important to look at areas of overlap and duplication in local co-operative ownership where there’s opportunity to develop greater efficiency for New Zealand farmers – particularly in a tough operating environment.

“Farmlands exists to create better outcomes for New Zealand farmer customers and shareholders. In this instance, our focus is specifically around animal nutrition, which is such an important on-farm input, so it’s an area we are very focused on,” she said.

The purchase of SealesWinslow also ensures that critical animal feed assets stay in New Zealand co-operative ownership, maintaining local control of this part of the supply chain.

The announcement follows Farmlands’ last major partnership decision in 2022 which established Fern Energy by combining Farmlands’ fuel business with Southfuels for reach, expertise and scale. Fern Energy is now the largest rural fuel provider in New Zealand.

Before the sale can proceed, it must be approved by the Commerce Commission. It is anticipated that this regulatory process will be complete early in 2024. Ballance and Farmlands will work closely with the Commerce Commission to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to meet regulatory approval requirements.

Through this proposed ownership change, SealesWinslow will continue to operate as it does today – focused on delivering high-quality service and top-quality nutritional solutions to meet customer needs.

SealesWinslow has a history of excellence from when it was first established in 1968. In 2011, Ballance purchased 51% of SealesWinslow and acquired the remaining 49% in 2013. Ballance has grown the company’s reputation and reach, with SealesWinslow now offering high-value animal feed brands throughout New Zealand.

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