In a deal that reflects increasing demand for cage-free eggs and new regulations on animal treatment, Northwest Farms and Proterra Investment Partners have acquired Willamette Egg Farms in the Pacific Northwest from Michael Foods Inc., a subsidiary of Post Holdings. Price was not disclosed.
Northwest Farms is a newly formed company that includes several egg farming families who also are owners in Versova Management, headquartered in Sioux Center, Iowa. Versova is a family of egg production companies with farms in Iowa and Ohio. Proterra is an alternative investment fund.
The acquisition includes Willamette’s egg farms in Moses Lake, Wash., and Canby and Molalla, Ore. The farms include three egg-laying sites housing more than three million hens in production and two feed mills. The sale closed Dec. 2. Versova has assumed day to day management of the farms.
“There are dramatic changes coming in U.S. egg production, including customer-set deadlines to transition to cage-free, as well as state law changes regarding hen housing," said JT Dean, president of Versova. "We want to secure our position to maintain our strong and stable supply of the eggs our customers want now and in the future.”
