U.S. food and grain-handling companies ConAgra Foods Inc, Cargill Inc and CHS Inc have moved closer to sealing a deal to merge their North American flour mill operations by agreeing to sell four mills to a Japanese company. Miller Milling Co, a U.S.-based unit of Tokyo-based Nisshin Flour Milling Inc, will purchase the four U.S. mills, the companies said on Thursday.Divesting the operations was part of the companies' plans to complete the merger and create a company called Ardent Mills, which would control a third of the U.S. flour market.Completion of the deal has taken longer than expected due to an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division.Under the deal, ConAgra is joining forces with Horizon Milling LLC - a joint operation between Cargill and CHS that already is the largest flour miller in the United States. The deal was first made public in March 2013 and was initially expected to close late last year.
ConAgra Foods, Inc. is a packaged food company. The Company operates in four segments: Consumer Foods, Commercial Foods, Ralcorp Food Group, and Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products. Shares of CAG fell by 0.32% or $-0.1/share to $31.06. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $28.09 and as high as $37.28. On average, 3812490 shares of CAG exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1345373.
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