Linamar Acquires Seeding Expert Bourgault Industries, Significantly Bolstering its Agriculture Business

GUELPH, ON, Dec. 20, 2023 /CNW/ - Linamar Corporation (TSX: LNR) today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Bourgault Industries Ltd. of St. Brieux, Saskatchewan, further enhancing its Industrial segment's diversified offerings and advancing its position as a leading short-line agriculture equipment manufacturer. Bourgault is a world-class agriculture equipment manufacturer regarded as a market and technology leader in broad acre seeding.  Linamar's existing agricultural brands include harvesting specialist MacDon, and tillage and crop nutrition expert Salford.  Bourgault is highly complimentary to these existing divisions and enables Linamar to increase its market position as it now possesses a full lineup of products in the broader crop production cycle, from field preparation, to seeding, crop nutrition, harvest and post harvest. 

The transaction, representing the purchase of 100% of the equity interest of Bourgault, is for CAD $640 Million, subject to customary adjustments.  Bourgault will become part of a new Linamar Agriculture division within the broader Industrial Segment.  The industrial segment also includes Skyjack, a manufacturer of aerial work platforms.  This new Agriculture group will continue to operate the shortline brands of MacDon, Salford, and Bourgault independently while maximizing overall growth opportunities globally, better enabling future Agriculture technologies, improving the overall farm customer experience, as well as enhancing product support.  The acquisition includes Bourgault's Highline Manufacturing division which produces hay handling and livestock feeding equipment, as well as roto-moulding producer Free Form Plastics. 

Linda Hasenfratz, Linamar Executive Chair and CEO said "We are thrilled to welcome Bourgault Industries into the Linamar family.  Bourgault is another Canadian manufacturing success story that draws many similarities to Linamar's history of entrepreneurism and technical innovation.  The Bourgault name is synonymous with broad acre agricultural seeding innovation and offers a tremendous opportunity for Linamar to further diversify and grow our agriculture platform, as well as our Industrial segment overall.  It also further enhances our powerful synergistic diversification strategy whereby our Industrial businesses benefit from purchasing leverage, global footprint and access to industry leading lean manufacturing expertise from our Mobility businesses, while our Mobility business benefits from the strong cash generation and brand expertise of our Industrial businesses.  Together our business model provides an excellent formula for consistent, sustainable growth with strong margins and excellent balance sheet strength." 

Jim Jarrell, Linamar's President and COO added, "Bourgault is our third strategic acquisition of 2023, following two previous transactions within the Mobility sector earlier this year.  This work is the result of a well-defined strategy to grow our business with diversified product offerings, creating a larger potential addressable market and new pathways for future revenue growth.  Bourgault strengthens our short-line agriculture platform with strong brand recognition, a portfolio of advanced seeding technologies and an operational footprint that will enable us to better serve the core Western Canadian and US Midwest farm base."

Bourgault President Gerry Bourgault commented, "Bourgault was started by my father and has a rich history in agriculture.  The Bourgault family is incredibly proud of the legacy we have created both here in in St. Brieux, Saskatchewan, but also around the world.  We are excited to have our team of over nine-hundred people in Saskatchewan, and over one thousand worldwide, join the Linamar family. Linamar has a proven track record for not only successfully integrating acquired companies, but also for their manufacturing expertise and business execution overall.  I am confident Linamar will take the Bourgault brand to new heights in its next chapter, while also allowing Bourgault to maintain and build upon its deep-rooted connections to its stakeholders in Saskatchewan and around the world."

Linamar will hold a webcast & conference call today Wednesday December 20 at 5:00 p.m. ET to discuss the Transaction in greater detail. The event will be simulcast and can be accessed at the following URL https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/553482801.  The webcast can also be navigated to via the Company's website. For those who wish to listen to an audio only call-in option, the numbers for this call are ([phone] (North America) or ([phone] (International) Conference ID 75145440, with a call-in required 15 minutes prior to the start of the webcast. The conference call will be chaired by Ms. Hasenfratz. The webcast replay will be available at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/553482801 after the call.  A taped replay of the conference call will also be made available Linamar Corporation starting at 8:00 p.m. ET on December 20, 2023, for seven days. The number for the replay is (+1) [phone] or (+1) [phone], Passcode: 145440 #. In addition, a recording of the call will be posted at https://www.linamar.com/event/linamar-bil-acquisition/ 

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and expected to close in Q1 2024.  A new term loan facility will fund the acquisition under similar terms and conditions as Linamar's existing revolving credit facility.  The term loan will mature in three years to closely align to the maturing of Linamar's existing revolving credit facility. This term loan agreement has been fully underwritten by commitments of BMO Capital Markets, TD, Scotiabank, and National Bank.

TD Securities are acting as financial advisors to Linamar in connection with the Transaction. Aird & Berlis LLP was retained as legal counsel for Linamar. KPMG Corporate Finance are acting as financial advisors to Bourgault in connection with the transaction. McDougall Gauley LLP is retained as legal counsel for Bourgault.

Linamar Corporation (TSX:LNR) is an advanced manufacturing company where the intersection of leading-edge technology and deep manufacturing expertise is creating solutions that power vehicles, motion, work and lives for the future. The Company is made up of two operating segments – the Industrial segment and the Mobility segment, both global leaders in manufacturing solutions and world-class developers of highly engineered products. The Industrial segment is comprised of Skyjack, MacDon and Salford. Skyjack manufactures scissor, boom and telehandler lifts for the aerial work platform industry. MacDon manufactures combine draper headers and self-propelled windrowers for the agricultural harvesting industry. Salford also supplies the agriculture market with farm tillage and crop fertilizer applicator equipment. The Mobility segment is focused on propulsion systems, structural and chassis systems, energy storage and power generation for both the global electrified and traditionally powered vehicle markets, and is subdivided into three regional groups and one global product group: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the newly formed Structures Group. The Regional Mobility groups are vertically integrated operations combining expertise in light metal casting, forging, machining and assembly. The Linamar Structures Group offers competitive lightweight innovations for safety-critical components and systems for the global mobility market. In addition, the eLIN Product Solutions Group focuses on Electrification and McLaren Engineering provides design, development, and testing services for the Mobility segment. Linamar's medical solutions group, Linamar MedTech, focuses on manufacturing solutions for medical devices and precision medical components. Linamar has over 31,000 employees in 70 manufacturing locations, 14 R&D centres and 28 sales offices in 19 countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia, which generated sales of more than $7.9 billion in 2022. For more information about Linamar Corporation and its industry-leading products and services, visit www.linamar.com or follow us on our social media channels.

Guelph, Ontario
December  20, 2023

SOURCE Linamar Corporation

For further information regarding this release please contact Linda Hasenfratz at [phone]