Cybus Capital structures new bakery venture
DES MOINES, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 13, 2001--Cybus Capital Markets, LLC announces the formation of new bakery joint venture comprised of Gerard's French Bakery (a subsidiary of Mountain View Harvest Cooperative, Longmont, CO), Farmland Industries (Kansas City, MO) and a privately held flour milling company. The new venture will supply artisanal-quality breads and baked goods to retail and foodservice companies in the West, Midwest and East Coast. Cybus advised and assisted Mountain View Harvest Coop and Gerard's in this transaction and other strategic and financial matters. Valued in excess of $15 million, the exact terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Mountain View Harvest Cooperative is the largest wheat grower cooperative in the Mountain States, representing 225 producers. Gerard's has been producing breads for the foodservice industry for 25 years. Farmland Industries is participating in the new venture by supplying flour through existing relationships with wheat millers, its brand names, supply chain management technology and financing for additional new facilities to satisfy strong market demand for quality bread products. Producer members of Mountain View will obtain better pricing through this coordinated supply-chain business model.
``This creative new venture will be a powerful competitor in the par baked and fully baked bread sector, providing excellent product and competitive prices,'' said Justin Eisenach, CEO of Mountain View Harvest. ``Besides providing our wheat farmers with attractive markets for hard wheat, this venture will provide product tracking back to the farm, cost-efficient channel management and stable pricing for our members through the use of innovative supply chain technologies.''
Cybus Capital Markets, Des Moines, is a leading merchant banking firm with a focus on the food chain, value-added agriculture and complementary industries. Cybus previously facilitated the acquisition of Mountain Meadow Farms (Denver, CO) by Transhumance Holdings, Inc. (Davis, CA), a leading supplier of lamb.
In 1999 Cybus added the management of a $43 million private equity pool, tecTERRA Food Capital Fund, to its line of financial services. This unique fund is dedicated to investing in high-growth, consumer-driven, food processing for the benefit of both Iowa's agricultural producers and equity stakeholders. The tecTERRA Fund has financed the expansion of Rudi's Bakery, a Boulder, CO organic baking company into Iowa, and recently invested in Sioux-Preme Packing, Inc., a specialty pork processor in Sioux Center, IA.