Canada's Competition Bureau recently sued a Canadian
agricultural company, seeking to unwind part of a closed
transaction involving the company's purchase of grain
elevators. This case matters to business because:
- it demonstrates that companies may have a valuable opportunity
to close large transactions (and vendors can get paid) even though
part of the transaction may potentially be anti-competitive.
- it is the first public example of the Bureau taking action in
respect of alleged "monopsony" (i.e., market power for
the purchase of a product, rather than its sale).
Background
Parrish & Heimbecker (P&H) is a Canadian operator of
grain elevators, grain processing assets and export terminals. In
September 2019, P&H announced it would acquire 10 additional
grain elevators in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British
Columbia from Louis Dreyfus Company, and closed the transaction on
December 10, 2019. The value of the transaction was not publicly
disclosed.
