Agrium expects to own Viterra retail sites in early 2013

Agrium expects to complete its purchase of the bulk of Viterra’s Canadian and Australian farm supply stores by the end of 2012 or early 2013, Agrium CEO Mike Wilson said Tuesday.

Calgary fertilizer firm Agrium, which is also the biggest farm retail supplier in the U.S., is paying $575 million for the stores, which sell seed, chemicals and fertilizer to farmers.

Agrium will buy the stores from Swiss-based Glencore International, which is expected to complete its takeover of Viterra this month.

Privately held Canadian grain handler Richardson International is buying some of Viterra’s grain-handling elevators and crop-processing sites once Glencore’s takeover is complete.

The Glencore-Viterra deal has received all approvals from regulatory authorities except China’s Ministry of Commerce, which is reviewing the transaction.

Glencore’s selloff of some Viterra parts to Agrium and Richardson still requires approval of Canada’s Competition Bureau.